Living, Loving, Learning, Sharing

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-18T10:45:00.000-06:00

Christmas and Karina's one year photo shoot

2012-01-17T23:07:00.000-06:00

Christmas stuff

2011-12-20T22:14:00.003-06:00

I love going to pick out our Christmas tree so I have to record this memory. The rest of the pictures are of us at the Riverwalk. I thought the lights would be pretty to see, so we took an evening trip to see them. We had dinner at Pico de Gallo one of our favorite restaurants. It's owned by the same owners of the more popular restaurant Mi Tierra on the Riverwalk, but it's not crowded and chaotic like Mi Tierra--perfect for taking the kids. Then we road the Rio Taxi. It was cold but perfect. The girls loved it. I recommend the taxi over the tour because you can get on/off when you want just like a taxi. The tour is long and would not allow the flexibility of getting off when needed.

A funny smile

School stuff

2011-12-17T22:09:00.001-06:00

Elena had her Christmas concert and Marisa had observation week at her school. Here are the highlights.

Marisa is 4

2011-12-17T21:27:00.002-06:00

A little late on this post, but here it is. And I'll slowly be catching up with the rest.

Marisa had a little playdate party during the weekday. It was low stress for me and perfect for her since she doesn't like crowds and comotion. She loves unicorns so I made it a unicorn theme. If you've seen Despicable Me, she reminds me of the little girl who wants a unicorn. I love the ending with the story of "3 little girls" which naturally makes me think of my 3 little girls.

Marisa is the sweetest. She is so considerate always thinking of others much like her dad. The other day I dropped 100 straws on the floor. She came immediately and said, "it's okay mama, I'll help you pick them up." She loves to help around the house and always has a need to do something. She is also a a homebody and likes routine and clear expectations. This is good for me since I tend to be the opposite. She keeps me on task, reminds me of what is next, and reminds me that staying home is good sometimes too. I love that she asks that I go get Karina when Karina cries. I can't let her cry even for a moment. She's always watching out for her and Elena even though Elena is older. Just today while Elena was at school I bought Marisa an ice cream, immediately she asked if I could buy one for Elena too.

Recently Marisa has been saying, "I love you," and when I respond, "I love you too." she responds back, "I love you too."

Girls singing

2011-12-08T22:47:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-02T21:24:00.000-06:00

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T13:06:00.013-06:00

A wonderful holiday filled with lots of new memories and a lot to be thankful for. God is good.

Just had to include these after the Thanksgiving feast nap photos

O's birthday is on Thanksgiving every six years.

Corpus Christi marina

At home enjoying the fall weather

Caught up!

2011-11-19T23:25:00.001-06:00

Finally got around to those posts from when I was computerless...and then some. In case you are interested, here's what you missed: The flower girls, my conference, Halloween, a cooking lesson, random Karina post , swim class, and a school holiday. Whew!

Elena is 6

2011-11-17T09:39:00.000-06:00

This is the most emotional birthday of one of my girls thus far. Elena recently had a growth spurt. I was in denial and was still dressing her in size 5T. When I finally admitted that they no longer fit I went shopping and it was then that I realized that Elena had moved up to the "Girls" section. No more shopping in the toddler section with single digits and the letter "T" Her clothing is now in a whole other section with different styles and fashion sense and not to mention a few dollars more ;). How could I possibly have a six year old?

But I am thankful. Elena has filled our lives with joy these last 6 years and she continues to do so everyday. Elena means light and some how the compliments we receive about her are always related to that meaning. Last year her art teacher commented that Elena was a ball of sunshine. This year her Kindergarten teacher said "Es un placer tener a Elena en mi clase; ilumina mi salon. (It is a pleasure having Elena in my class she brightens my room). Elena really does light up our lives. She is happy go lucky and optimistic, always smiling and passing on that contagious laugh.

Some milestones:

Elena can READ!
She pumps on a swing
She skips
She makes her bed
She showers w/o help
She shows sympathy
She puts dishes away

That's all I can think of now. I'll post more if I remember. We love you Elena! Happy 6th Birthday!!!

Birthday morning

Lunch and birthday celebration at school

She still amazes me

2011-11-16T23:00:00.006-06:00

She sleeps...

after I transfer her to the stroller from the car and while we listen to Sunday mass on the speakers of the outdoor church courtyard. :) I see so plenty of other babies do this but since none of my other babies did, I am still caught by surprise and wonder, will she wake up this time?"

A day with the girls

2011-11-15T22:44:00.005-06:00

On this day Elena had the day off so I enjoyed a day with all of my girls together just like the good old days. My moms group had a field trip to Kiddie Acres, a small amusement park that is perfect for their age group. Even Karina took part in one ride! Scroll down to find out what ride she took. Oh, and I must note what a change in personality Marisa takes on with her older sister along. Typically she is slow to warm up to new settings with large groups but with Elena around, she is immediately comfortable. This makes me smile to know they have this close and comfortable relationship.

We ended with a wonderful picnic at the park across our subdivision. Perfect breezy weather and sunny skies under a grove of trees.

When Daddy is away...

2011-11-15T21:59:00.004-06:00

and there's not an extra set of arms to hold a sick, clingy baby, the baby joins me while cooking. ;)

I still have soo many posts to catch up on! I've considered not posting them but as I look through the archives I'm so glad to have all these memories. I'll get to it...soon.

Let's cook

2011-11-05T23:20:00.004-05:00

I recently hosted a cooking class for my Mami Latina group that was led by a good friend of mine who is a chef. The class was awesome and I learned how to cook simply which is just what I needed. Don't be deceived from the pictures, I'm not really the cook. This was incredibly fun! Gracias Irene!

Even Karina enjoyed the meal!

Abuelos visit

2011-11-04T00:54:00.001-05:00

Occasionally my parents come to visit after my Dad's eye appoinments in SA. On this trip they watched the girls so that we could have a date night. We headed downtown to listen to some live music and enjoyed entertainment by Alejandro Escovedo and James McMurtry. It was a fun night for Omar and I and a nice change not to have the "babysitter curfew." We also took advantage of the beautiful weather and gave them a tour of Zilker park via the train.

Halloween stuff

2011-10-31T00:01:00.002-05:00

It was a very festive Halloween. Marisa had a mini field trip to a plaza within walking distance from her school and I joined her class to trick-o-treat there. Elena had a festival at her school that was enjoyed by all and then of course we did the usual pumpkin carve and trick or treating in the neighborhood. Our fellow Aggie friends joined us with their 3 year old and newborn baby girl! Fun, fun, fun!

On our way
Central Market

See the mom in red in the background? That was my favorite costume. It's Veruka Salt from the original Willy Wonka. Her sons were Ooompa lumpas. How creative!
With her teachers

The carve

Fall Festival at Elena's school
games

Omar stayed behind to pass out candy while I joined the girls. When we were done we rang the doorbell and surprised Omar since he was expecting neighborhood kids.

Swim safety

2011-10-27T00:33:00.001-05:00

The girls got a kick out of this swim class. Their swim class does a safety day and the kids ride on a raft to learn what to do incase they go overboard. The instructor really flipped the raft over and then the kids had to swim to grab the rope on the side of the raft and call for help. Notice they are wearing life jackets.

Karina is 10 months old

2011-10-26T21:30:00.006-05:00

I love this age! Karina is so much fun despite her recent neediness lately. She seems to catch some type of illness every two weeks and then just wants to be held all day. It doesn't help that she has 5 teeth coming in simultaneously either. The other girls never seemed to care about their new teeth or at least they never showed discomfort but Karina seems to mind. She is still fun loving, cuddly and laid back. She started crawling with her belly off the floor two weeks ago and she is loving it. Her sisters entertain her immensely which I didn't realize until she and I were away from the family for a conference (more on that later).

Karina loves to eat anything and has tried more foods than her sisters did at this age. This mostly has to do with her wanting food instantly. To meet her needs I must serve her what everyone else is eating immediately. She will eat and eat and doesn't seem to get full. She once started to fall asleep while eating. It was hilarious, she had her eyes closed while inserting food in her mouth.

Sleep is so, so, recently. Along with the illnesses come night wakings. I try to be patient about it because she doesn't feel well but the regression is hard for me since she was already sleeping through the night at 3 months. Luckily though she does wonderfully during the day regardless of how she slept the previous night. She will nap twice in a day or on the go and is very adaptable. She must know she's the 3rd child.

Karina nods no, signs milk, says mama and leche which sounds like e-te.

Now that I know how long babyhood lasts, it saddens me to know that we're half way through it. If only I could stop time--just for a moment
1st spaghetti

1st swing ride

Finding pictures

2011-10-23T22:09:00.004-05:00

I found these old photos on Omar's phone the other day and they made me smile. It must be almost exactly a year ago...notice the pumpkins.

AT LAST!!

2011-10-23T21:17:00.003-05:00

I CAN POST!! Sorry I've been MIA. We got a new computer and with the new Explorer I couldn't publish anything. I have so much to catch up on...be on the look out for new posts soon. In the meantime, here's a recent picture.

TABE Conference

2011-10-19T22:04:00.002-05:00

This time I went to a conference! In order to maintain my teaching certificate, I have to take 150 hours of professional development every five years. I don't want to lose my teaching certificate so I've started to work toward those hours before my current certification expires. I have a couple of years so I'm kind of cramming. I was able to attend the Texas Association for Bilingual Educators (TABE) conference held in McAllen this year thanks to Omar and my Mom who watched the girls. Omar worked from home during the 3 days and shuttled the girls to and from school and all those other "mom" duties. He did an AWESOME job!! I'm still nursing Karina so she came. along with my mom so that she could watch Karina during the sessions. I returned to the hotel for Karina during breaks and it worked out perfectly. On top of that, Omar used his hotel points for our stay so we were more than comfortable and I was able to save some money there. I have to admit it was like a little vacation for me with minus 2 children! It also felt good to be in the education realm again, and I realized that despite how removed I am from it at the moment, the subject still interests me and that makes me look forward to someday returning to my former profession. My next conference is NABE in February. I am looking forward to learning even more.

Wedding

2011-10-06T21:45:00.004-05:00

Elena and Marisa were recently flower girls in my cousin's wedding. We are lucky to have some family nearby and we were happy that they asked the girls to be part of the wedding. The girls were really looking forward to it and enjoyed wearing beautiful dresses and carrying their flower. The wedding was beautiful and we even enjoyed part of the reception alone because we were able to get a babysitter for the latter part of the reception. My youngest sister was in town for the wedding and we enjoyed their company and visiting a few of our favorite Austin spots with them and their two kids.

I needed a pedicure and brought Elena along. This was her first pedicure. She enjoyed it.

The girls with the blushing bride
Elena and Marisa love their cousin Christian!
There they go
The vows
Isn't their getaway car awesome?

The Hula Hut on Lake Austin

My sister and her youngest on Mount Bonnell. Isn't he the cutest? He is 3 months younger than Karina.

My sister and her family

:)

2011-09-06T21:24:00.000-05:00

A new smile...

It came out a little earlier than expected. It was yanked it out with a blanket that Marisa was pulling out of Elena's mouth. She didn't cry too much and said she did it on purpose because she wanted to lose a tooth. She has lost another one since.

Labor day

2011-09-02T22:20:00.002-05:00

Elena didn't have school for labor day but Marisa did. While Marisa was at MDO, we decided to join Omar on the driving range. He and Elena are quite a pair. She insisted on wearing a visor like him. They have an amazing relationship and he is definitely her favorite. I'm okay with that. I think it's so sweet. While they played, Karina and I sat on the sidelines and snacked. It was a nice day but very breezy and we were trying to stay under the porch.

Date night

2011-09-01T22:13:00.001-05:00

Over the summer our church offered a "Ten Great Dates" session and book study. We dropped off the kids at the church nursery, watched a short video and then were free to go on our date for a few hours. We looked forward to this every Sunday evening especially because we didn't have to worry about childcare or planning for a babysitter since it was provided by the church. We can't wait to sign up for it next summer. We captured only one photo but made great memories and learned a lot.

Summer's end

2011-08-30T21:37:00.003-05:00

We ended the summer with swim lessons. I was so amazed at the quick progress both girls made that we signed them up for weekly lessons this fall. They are still making nice progress and they really look forward to swim day. These are videos of day 3 of the 2 week summer camp. They did not swim previously and neither of the girls would put their face in the water. The last one is of a trial water babies class I took with Karina.

Elena swims

Marisa swims
Karina swims

Family vacation

2011-08-30T21:14:00.014-05:00

I am finally getting around to posting our photos from our vacation in St. Louis. My computer basically went kaput and I was VERY slowly but thankfully able to retrieve my files and transfered all my pictures to my now new computer.

The Poultry Science Association holds a yearly conference every summer. In previous summers, I've joined Omar in Edmonton, Niagara, and Colorado. This July, the conference was held in St. Louis and after hearing what a great family friendly city it was we took the opportunity to make it our summer family vacation. My MIL even came along to help out and join in the sightseeing while Omar had his conference meetings during the day. She graciously offered to watch the girls during the nights so that I could join Omar for dinner. Aside from a visit to the doctor for poor Karina who was sick with an ear infection while we were there, we really enjoyed our time there and even had fairly easy plane rides to and from St. Louis. Of course this is in comparision to the last plane ride we made together as a family which made us vow never to do it again. Ha! what a difference 3 years makes.

The City Museum--this was the BEST museum EVER. It made me want to be a kid again!

The Children's Museum, a.k.a. The Magic House

The Gateway Arch

Getting ready to ride the elevator

We watched the sun set from the top. Somehow seeing the sun set from this perspective made the sun appear to be setting on fast forward. I guess I can't describe it any other way.
Sqooshed in the elevator on the way back down and below two tired little girls ready to be home

Happy 9th my love!

2011-08-14T13:37:00.006-05:00

I have so many posts to catch up on including our family vacation in St. Louis and other summer updates-- those will be coming soon but for now I want to thank my parents for watching the girls for us this weekend so that Omar and I could celebrate. Lots of memories and a single photo to remember it by.

A purposeful hat

2011-07-13T22:48:00.011-05:00

My latest find! Clever isn't it? I am even replacing my "hooter hider" (in this post) with it. It's so much faster and easier and yeah, she's nursing under there.

Love these!

2011-07-13T15:05:00.003-05:00

I took these last month with the SLR and finally got them developed. I always wish SLR's were more portable because I can really see the difference between the SLR and the point and shoot simply because I have full control of the settings. The last one is my favorite.

Food and Laughter

2011-07-08T14:52:00.002-05:00

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing
I loooove baby laughs!!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing
I love this video of Karina's first meal. I'm so distracted by the girls but this is such a typical day for me. Everyone chattting away.

CFA cow appreciation day

2011-07-08T14:38:00.004-05:00

Anatomy

2011-07-08T14:32:00.004-05:00

At Karina's 3 month check up Elena asked the Doctor a million questions about the Middle Ear poster on the wall. The poster was full of photos including one of the the mouth (open) This week she made this drawing. Do you see the uvula? It's that little tear drop shaped thing at the back of your throat. And underneath it she wrote, "Everybody has mouths" Omar the scientist was very proud!!

6 month update

2011-07-08T13:41:00.006-05:00

Karina is 6 months old now and is just a sweetie. She continues to be adaptable in many situations. The California 2 hour time difference didn't even seem to phase her in either direction. She can fall asleep between 7 and 7:30 but doesn't get fussy if we keep her up until 8 or 9pm which is great when Omar is out of town and I can't get everyone's bath and bedtime routines done before then. Regardless of when we put her down for bedtime she wakes up between 7 and 8 am. The other girls usually wake first and then come and wake her. Karina doesn't mind and is always all smiles when she wakes regardless of where she is.

She is starting to grab anything she sees and taking it directly to her mouth. She likes to roll more than once. She loves eating and calls out for food in her own baby way when she sees us eat. I love how she snuggles up to me. When I hold her she places her head on my chest ever so slightly and lovingly.

She has grown so much in the last 2 months. She is 15lbs 7ounces. She is right in the 50th percentile for weight and height. All the girls were and continue to be. I guess that's what happens when you combine a tall dad with a short mama. ;)

The baby phase really goes by too quickly. Pretty soon she'll be sitting up and crawling and I'll have to install those baby gates. I can't even believe she's eating solids already!!!

First swim

falling asleep on the front lawn

Friends

How did she get so big so fast?
7 days old

6 months old

California

2011-07-04T14:36:00.019-05:00

Omar and I just got back from the most amazing trip down memory lane in California. I hadn't been back in 5 years and jumped at the opportunity to go when Omar mentioned he would be attending a poultry meeting there. It was an incredible week long trip and I had no idea that such a visit would conjure up so many feelings of nostalgia and memories of a time when life was so simple. Our first home as a married couple was in Sonoma, California, such a beautiful setting to begin our lives in. We spent a few days there recollecting all our memories and visiting our favorite locations but before getting in to that I'll start from the beginning of our trip.

We dropped off the Elena and Marisa with my parents and flew out of Laredo on a Saturday. The girls had been looking forward to this visit and were excited to see their grandparents and their cousins.

Laredo
The littlest grandbabies, 3 months and 6 months
My niece

My girls with my sisters kids.

We landed in Burbank and drove to Pismo Beach where the meeting would be held. I had not been to Pismo before but the pacific coast was all too familiar and as beautiful as I remembered. We arrived around sunset at the resort, had dinner, snapped a few photos and called it a night.

The flight and SoCal

Somewhere in SoCal between Burbank and Pismo BeachI'm nursing at In-N-Out one of our favorite burger joints (coming to Texas soon).What a view for a fast food restraunt huh?

Pismo Beach, California

The next morning Omar had his meeting and a golf tournament with clients so Karina and I headed to the beach and downtown Pismo for some shopping. The beach was cloudy and cool. Again, so familiar a feeling. It was a nice change from the 100+ temps we've been having in Texas. I couldn't help but feel serene here. I walked along the shore and enjoyed the quiet.

It warmed up pretty quick as the fog predictably rolled away. A good friend suggested I try the Splash Cafe so I headed there for lunch. The restaraunt is known for the best Clam Chowder in the state and clam chowder is one of my favorite dishes so I couldn't pass it up. When I arrived there was a long line outside. Karina was cooperative and the wait was worth it. I packed it to go and enjoyed my favorite soup in a sourdough breadbowl on the pier overlooking the Pacific.

After Omar's tournament we got ready for dinner. The dinner reception was held on a house on top of a hill overlooking the Pacific. The view had to be one of the most gorgeous views I have ever seen.

The next morning Omar had one last meeting so I had breakfast on my on at Barnes and Noble another chain location with a view. Next we headed to Madera and Fresno in the valley and central part of the state for more meetings. It is supposed to be hot and yucky but I think this is all in relative comparison to the coastal parts of California because it was around the 70's/80's. After Omar's meetings we had Omar's favorite pizza from Round Table at a park under the shade of the redwood trees in not so hot temps.

The following morning we headed north where we once called home. We went to Napa first where Omar was meeting with former coworkers. Napa was where we spent a lot of our time in our first years of marriage because there was more to do there than in Sonoma. We recalled a Christmas dinner at Panda Express. Omar likes to refer to this as our Christmas Story moment since we were in the same predicament not finding much else open on Christmas day. And later, we went to our favorite Barbeque restaurant for lunch. Barbeque was harder to find than here in Texas so we frequented this restraunt a lot.

We spent the following day in Sonoma. This is where my mind was suddenly flooded with memories of our young lives as we approached that little trailer, our first home, and the place with the most beautiful views I'd ever seen. A place where all Omar and I had was each other and we awoke to brisk weekend mornings watching the fog roll in from our living room window and where we would occasionally see that blue heron. We use to predict just how warm the day would get just by the sight of the fog. Unfortunately that little trailer was there no longer. The year after we left the turkey breeding company that Omar worked for moved east. So the trailer and most of the barns were gone. But the view was still there, those rolling amber colored hills with their emerald green vines in perfect rows for miles and miles looked exactly the same as when we left them.

Less than a mile away was another farm that Omar worked at and the house he spent his summer in when he interned there. It was the summer after we were engaged that I made my first trip out there to visit him. I remember the excitement of it all. It would be my first time on a plane and to another state. On that summer visit, I stayed with Omar on the turkey farm in an old spanish colonial historic home surrounded by the sound of clucking turkeys and beautiful grape vines. The house was built in the 1800's and was in desperate need of repair but being inside the house you couldn't help but imagine the beauty of this grand home during it's time and its potential to look amazing. So without hesitation we decided to see what had happened to the house and the plot which was put for sale by the turkey company soon after we left. We assumed it would be bought by the winery owner that owned the vineyard surrounding our previous home but when we arrived we learned that it was bought by the owner of this winery. We approached the old home first since it still looked vacant but instead we met the girlfriend of the owner, a musician from New York, who was sitting atop the balcony with her keyboard and music spending her summer there to be inspired. The view was still spectacular. It's the picture below with the dirt road lined with palm trees. Anyway, despite the runned down appearance of the place, it was obvious it had been worked on some and even the tiniest of additions like the lights made the place look so pretty. Eventually the owner of the winery arrived. He was a bit intrigued by the fact that Omar had lived there and was surprised that there was electricity and water at the time. The owner apparently couldn't find the water source. I thought it funny about the electricity because I never would have stayed in such an old house away from everything without any light. The owner told us that the house was in the process of being renovated. The thought of seeing the finished product makes us want to go back just to see its true beauty.

Sonoma

Our flight was out of SFO. When we lived in CA we spent a lot of time in San Francisco so we decided to stay in Berkeley on our last night. In the evening we strolled on the UC Berkeley campus and had dinner. We stayed on the Marina for the night and had a leisurely walk the morning before our flight. It was a perfect way to end our trip. The last of our photos are below and if you happen to be wondering why I don't have more pictures of Omar or why they are taken from behind it's because he prefers not to have his picture taken so I sneak them in when I can. Ha ha!

Before leaving for our trip, I told my cousin I was going to California and she said, "Don't stay in California!" She must've remembered more than than we did just how much we enjoyed our time there. I love Texas and Austin but sometimes we would just love to go back.

Berkeley

Family pic

2011-06-12T14:26:00.002-05:00

This is one of those booth pictures. It sure was tight in there but we got all 5 of us in it! I love Karina's face here. I asked Elena what she thought Karina was thinking and she said, "I think she's thinking, What is going on?"

Soy Mami

2011-06-09T21:22:00.008-05:00

Somehow being home with 3 little girls every single day doesn't convince me that I a mom, a real mom, the real deal! They keep me busy enough and depend on me A LOT, but I don't remember that I am a mommy until I see photos like these. For this reason photos with my babies are are some of my favorites. Here's Karina at 5 months and pictures with the other girls when they were babies.

With Marisa at 8 months old

With Elena at 11 months old

Still sleeping

2011-06-08T21:39:00.004-05:00

She really does sleep everywhere and so easily! Before Karina came along I truly believed that babies who fell asleep in strollers, cars, and out in public were exhausted, overtired, and skipping naps, but now I'm eating my own words. I can not believe this little baby. She is almost 6 months and is still taking several naps throughout the day. Karina will fall asleep without fussing and on her own while playing in the the play gym, the exersaucer, the floor, you name it. I'm starting a little photo collection of "places Karina sleeps" just incase I ever forget how easy she is/was.

Ignore the various strollers below and my obvious and latest baby gear obsession and see that little Karina does really sleep anywhere. And just incase I'm making this post sound like having 3 kids has not been an adjustment, I have decided just this last month that the age of 3 is my LEAST favorite age. I think God thought Karina should be an easy baby because I apparently find 3 year olds extreeeemly challenging. Hmm...I wonder who that 3 year old could be?

Very relaxed in Omar's office, her daytime napping room (even through his work phone calls)
At the beach
At a doctor's appointment
In the kitchen in her high chair
In a restaurant

Mini vacation

2011-06-08T20:25:00.010-05:00

Last week we took advantage of Elena's break between school and dual language summer school and headed to Brownsville to visit Omar's mom and to take a little day trip to the beach. On the way we decided to break up the trip and stop by the Texas State Aquarium. Omar had extra points for a free night at a hotel so it worked out just right. As an added bonus we were plesantly surprised when the hotel clerk upgraded us to the two bedroom suite!! The girls each had there own beds and a TV in their room and we had our own bed in another room with a TV too!! Needless to say everyone slept incredibly well and it made me wish we had this set up on every family vacation!

We previously visited the aquarium when Marisa was a baby. As they get older, trips like these become even better for so many reasons. There's just so much learning involved and much less drama. LOL! We started with the dolphin show and soon took a break for lunch. Both Karina AND Marisa took naps in the stroller! Then we went to the the new added Splash park where we spent the rest of the afternoon. The girls had a blast and were just beat afterward so we quickly toured the Gulf of Mexico section and then headed to Brownsville for the night. The following day we went to beach. The water was just the perfect temp. It felt like I could be in it ALL day. But instead Omar and I took turns going in while the other watched sleeping Karina (she sleeps everywhere!!! I'm always amazed and so I've started taking pictures of her asleep in different places but that's another post) and the older girls building sand castles. The sun became stronger and we headed back to Brownsville where we spent the weekend relaxing, hanging out with Grandma F (thank you!), swimming in her pool, dinner, barbequing, date night at the movie theater and a little visit to the cemetery. All in all it was a wonderful, restful, and fun trip. We couldn't be more thankful for Omar's flexible schedule that frequently allows somewhat spontaneous trips like these.

Hanging out in the hotel before bedtime
Dolphin show

More Elena funnies

2011-05-16T08:09:00.004-05:00

"Mama I love everything in the world, Everything, everything except for pirates."

Omar: Okay, I'm gonna jump in the shower now.

Elena: No, you can't jump in the shower or you'll slip and fall and hurt your head.

"I have tears of crying cause I miss my Daddy."

I can't remember the rest. I'll update it later.

Funnies

2011-05-10T21:44:00.005-05:00

The girls have said a few funny things I want to remember.

Omar to Elena giving her instructions in the shower : scrub your underarms

E to O: those aren't underarms those are undershoulders, these (pointing to the under part of her arm) are underarms.

Elena has been reading a lot of environmental print lately. At mother's day brunch she read some print on the glass from inside the restaurant like this Ahhh-Zip and Ahht-SAP. She laughed and laughed saying those were funny words. We explained that they looked backwards from the inside and that we would go look at the words (in the right direction)after we finished eating. She then read them and discovered they said Pizza and Pasta. Of course since she loves pasta she insisted we return for dinner sometime since she had pancakes this time.

And something very sweet of Elena-- all last week she couldn't wait for Friday when she would get to bring home my Mother's day plant home from school. Friday morning she woke up sick with a cough and a fever and the first thing she said when we let her know she would be staying home was that she wanted to go to school because she needed to give me my mother's day plant. She was so upset that we made the special trip to the school to pick it up later. Aren't these the moments we mothers live for!??

Marisa

One hot afternoon we were desperate to find something to do out of the house but still indoors. We took the girls to the movies and Rango was the only cartoon showing. It was okay but I wouldn't recommend it for little kids, it's probably better geared for older ones. If you don't know, Rango is a chameleon. Marisa asked during the movie, "Daddy, What's her (referring to Rango) name, what's her name? Is it GEICO?" We thought this was hilarious although I really don't know how many times she could have possibly seen a GEICO commercial. We don't watch a ton on TV and if she does it's kids stuff and they wouldn't show a GEICO commercial during kids shows right? I guess the gecko must've been really memorable to her.

At dinner she was counting and for some reason began counting like this, " thirty, thirty-one, 30-eyes, 30-nose, 30-ear. We started cracking up and then she began adding every body part to the number 30.

And Karina

She obviously isn't saying anything so I'll just give a little update. She's almost giggling and I have heard her laugh once. The older girls are always funny to Karina and she opens her mouth wide in that baby smile way and kinda shrieks simultaneously. She is now exploring the sound of her voice and makes kind of a ruckus with those shriek sounding sounds.

And this is unrelated but I don't want to forget and want Karina to know that Heavenly day is her Birth Day song from me. It's just a perfect description of that day. :)

Mother's day

2011-05-10T20:54:00.005-05:00

I had a lovely mother's day this year. I was woken up to the cutest (musical) card from the girls and then to yummy crepes made by Omar for the first time. They tasted much like the restaurant crepes I can't help but devour and I warned him that it may not be to his advantage that I now know he can make them. We went to church later and headed to SoCo for brunch. Since it was mother's day and we were (near) downtown we had to wait for a table. That ended up working out well because we were able to walk around the vicinity and check out some of the cute Austiny type shops we had not been to. We especially liked Allen's boots which I completely expected to be a typical Texas boot shop but it was incredible the amount of boots they had and the uniqueness to every single one. Luckily the price tags kept me from falling in love with them. The girls loved the boots too and REALLY wanted their own pair but instead we just enjoyed looking and trying on. After lunch we headed home for short naps and relaxed the rest of the afternoon. It couldn't have been a better day. I love my girls and the joy motherhood has brought me.

Girls and Boots!

Vespaio
My loves! The girls look so grown up to me this way--chatting away the way they are.

Karina's Baptism

2011-05-03T13:09:00.007-05:00

Karina had a wonderful baptismal ceremony Sunday afternoon and a nice family gathering at home. Karina had a cold and slight fever during her baptism, but did really well. My brother and now Karina's Godfather asked if all babies were as calm as Karina and commented on how she didn't ever cry during his stay here. I was reminded of her easy going nature and wondered if parents really have control over this. I think she's made me realize that it's the luck of the draw. Either way I'm thankful it has been a smooth transition for us thus far.

Lots of pictures below of the beautiful day. We were lucky enough to have lots of pictures mostly taken by my cousin. I also couldn't get my viewfinder to work so we used my brother's camera.

Exploring

2011-04-23T10:27:00.005-05:00

Now that Elena is in school, days off are few and far between so we try to make it point to do something special with the whole family on those days and O tries to take a day or afternoon off too. She had Good Friday off and we headed to the Nature Center. I love driving into the city and enjoy the things it has to offer for us and the kids. Even better the Nature Center is free!

March for Babies

2011-04-20T14:06:00.005-05:00

I recently joined Stroller Strides a great class for moms that is allowing me to regain the strength I lost from my pregnancies and then some. I've never, EVER, been athletic by any means so for me this is something very difficult to do, but I am happy to be doing this now in my somewhat young age and happy to be preventing further weakness and bone loss that comes from being weak and having babies.

I along with the Stroller Strides team will be walking for March of Babies in order to raise money for more research and to support programs that help moms have full term pregnancies. Those of you who know me might remember that Elena was born 4 weeks early and spent 7 days in NICU. While Elena was never in critical condition and came home fairly quickly, the experience allowed me to gain a slight perspective on what it feels like to deliver a sick premature baby, go home without your baby, the emotional toll that takes on a new mom, the stress it causes the other members of the family, and an insight to the difficulties that come when delivering a premature newborn baby. I obviously have personal reasons to raise money for this cause, but you can contribute and help me reach my goal too. Just go to my personal page here and make a secure donation. I appreciate you taking the time to read this post and helping out a good cause. :)

If you'd like to see more on what March for Babies is and why I'm walking watch the video here .

Vegas

2011-04-20T11:29:00.009-05:00

I joined Omar for a company business meeting in Las Vegas this past weekend. All the spouses were invited. It was nice getting to know each other and exploring the city with them. It was also nice to catch up with the ones I had already met.

The older girls stayed home with Grandma F. (Thanks Grandma F!!)and Karina came along. It sure felt like a break for Omar and I despite the presence of our little baby. Aside from us being experienced parents and knowing how difficult traveling with multiple children can be, Karina was so easy going that it felt as though we were on a vacation without kids.

We had not been to Vegas and had a wonderful time dining, walking the strip, taking in the chaos and lights and concluding with a show by Cirque de Soleil. We saw the Beatles--Love. It was stimulating to say the least but definitely worth seeing. The talent of the performers was just amazing. The show was my favorite part of our trip and then I'd have to say the Bellagio fountain and the inside of the hotel. All the hotels have their own personality and are huge as (the wives) discovered when attempting to get out of the MGM (where we stayed) our first morning there. It took us 40 minutes of going in circles to finally make it outside and onto the strip!! I'll get around to posting video of the Bellagio fountain soon along with some videos of the girls too. The upload takes forever and I'm off to have lunch with O before he heads off on another trip.

pseudo Eiffel tower
The Bellagio fountain

Lots and lots of flowers at the Bellagio, just breathtaking!
more flowers

Glass flowers on the ceiling of the Bellagio and now my wallpaper. :0)

A relaxing dinner with Karina sound asleep!
So adaptable and precious!!

The Strip at Night

At the MGM on our way out.

Egg Hunt

2011-04-18T21:43:00.003-05:00

My Mami Latina mom's club had an egg hunt for the kiddos. The girls had a great time!

More Karina

2011-04-06T14:20:00.007-05:00

I love photographing this age! I took the pictures below earlier this morning and felt Karina was more cooperatve. She slept 12 hours straight last night!! I had to finally wake her at 7:30am. Woo hoo!! I added the first picture because just yesterday she started grabbing toys and chewing on them. It think this skill may be a little early. At her 2 month check up the Dr. was surprised at her very strong grip. She joked that she needed to move her tools away from her on the examination table because Karina might take them with her.

Karina's 3 month update

2011-03-29T13:33:00.009-05:00

My little sweetie is now 3 months and absolutely the sweetest most passive and tranquil baby ever. I am still surprised that babies can really be this easy going. She typically sleeps 5+ hours at night. She very rarely cries and lays content for long periods of time. It's hard to describe her likes, dislikes because she does just fine with most every sitution. Marisa I thought was an easy baby too, but she did have particularities. Marisa liked to be swaddled just right with one arm out, and she hated car rides and her carseat. Karina does not need to sleep swaddled. She sleeps all stretched out instead. She doesn't mind car rides or her carseat and will fall asleep on her own in the stroller, the car, her bed, just about anywhere as long as she has eaten. She recently stopped taking the pacifer and sucks on her two middle fingers. I'd like to say she loves being worn but she really could go either way. It is nice however, that I can carry her because I enjoy it and not necessarily because I have to.

She's very bubbly in the morning with lots of smiles and a fairly long happy alert period where she plays in her bouncer or with Elena. I think I'd have to say that Elena is her favorite person in the family so far. She responds really well to Elena with lots of smiles for her. Marisa is catching on to this and is joining in for the giggles.

The transition to three has been fairly easy but adding a newborn is usually not the hard part for me. The hard part for me comes later when I have a toddler and a preschooler. It also has helped that Karina is easy and that Omar is home when he's home (and not working away in an office) and giving me lots of breaks throughout the day. For instance, I occasionally leave the house to do errands on my own while the girls nap. He also takes Elena to school so I sleep in those mornings and I don't have to get everyone out of bed.

Taking Elena to school when Omar is out of town has definitely been the hardest adjustment for me. I have to get all three girls up, dressed, fed, and into the car by 7:10am. The trickiest part of this process was Karina's morning feeding. Each day I hoped she awoke at a time that fell right on schedule with the routine because as you can imagine making breakfast for the older two while nursing was tricky. I recently discovered however that Karina doesn't need to nurse when I wake her up or before leaving the house. I discovered this when one night she nursed around 2am and slept through 7am; I was running late and decided not to nurse before leaving the house. I put her in her carseat all the while envisioning a long drive with a crying baby but instead she was perfectly content while AWAKE!! My mornings are much less stressful now.

Karina rolled over a couple of days ago. I found her sound asleep on her tummy. Now I can't remember if I'm suppose to flip her back or leave her. The last four nights she has fallen asleep by 7:30pm and has not woken up to nurse all night! I really don't know when she would have actually woken up because by 5am I am too uncomfortable and too lazy to pump so I wake her and nurse her then. I'll probably see how long this lasts and push the feeding for later in the morning. While it would be nice I can't actually imagine sleeping through the night this early.

And now for the pictures. I did a 3 month black and white photo shoot with the other girls so I was on a deadline to get Karina's done too. I decided to do color because I loved the colors the girls were wearing and how well they matched even though it was not planned. I was disappointed in their clarity and decided it's nearly impossible to take pictures of 3 little kids who will be still enough for a clear photo with my current camera. I could keep trying, but I still only have a film SLR and the CD's and film can get pricey especially when there are usually only two good photos per roll . I keep contemplating the purchase of a DSLR but I just don't think I will use it enough since I'm rarely hands free and because they are bulky to carry along with the big ol' diaper bag. Sigh...Well, I'll be redoing Karina's shoot because I didn't do it in the morning which is her best time and because I tend to shoot better black and whites or I like them better anyway. Enjoy!

3 months

2011-03-27T21:02:00.004-05:00

Karina is 3 months. I'll be posting an update soon.

Austin Rodeo

2011-03-24T23:43:00.003-05:00

Don't they look the same?

Spring Break

2011-03-24T22:30:00.008-05:00

We had a busy Spring Break with lots of visitors including a visit all the way from Boston. Omar's former coworker and friend was in San Antonio for a conference and hung out with us for part of his vacation. It was nice getting to see him and his wife again and recalling how young the girls were when they met them. I could hardly believe Marisa was just a baby and Elena a toddler not so long ago. My brother also stopped in for a quick visit. He will be Karina's Godfather and it was nice that he got to see her. We had Omar's oldest sister and her husband and our niece Briana over for the first time since we moved to Austin. Then the girls had a little playdate with the daughters of two of my childhood friends since 19 years ago! Now I feel old! We all have girls and the babies' names all begin with K. The daddies surely felt outnumbered. It was strange thinking of our times growing up together and then seeing each other now as mommies. It was fun. Finally, Julia stopped by for lunch with Bronius and the boys. Yes, Julia with her 3 boys and me with my 3 girls. When we were pregnant we joked we should trade our babies to have the other sex. ;)

The rest of the week I enjoyed stress free without having to worry about school schedules. It was so wonderful having Elena home and venturing out in the city with my 3 girls.

Hamilton pool

photos by Doug

A visit with Julia and family
The daughters of my childhood friends

Downtown and at the Children's Museum

A picture by Elena

Recent pics

2011-03-24T21:22:00.004-05:00

I don't get many opportunities to get pictures of Karina and I so I thought I'd post these. In the last picture Omar and Elena took turns bottle feeding Karina. Karina has caught every illness that Marisa and Elena bring home from school. On this particular day Karina was so congested, and she refused to nurse during two feedings. Eight hours later it occured to me that she might take the bottle. She did and it made Elena so happy to be able to feed Karina.

A Super night

2011-03-07T20:48:00.004-06:00

Today Elena said:

to Marisa: Good night Superhero sister.

I'm taking a Superhero bath in my Superhero tub that way I can get clean and save people.

Me: Que son tus poderes? What are your powers?

Elena: "I can fly. I can take kids to the hospital so they can get better." (She went to the hospital Sunday morning for pnemonia)

Me: How will you get there?

Elena: I will fly

Elena: I also have a superhero baby but she can't talk yet.

While heading to the kitchen: I'm gonna get some super water cause I'm super thirsty.

and to not leave Marisa out. When referring to Karina: "Mama can I hold your Karina." I love it, it's so cute...My Karina.

If you ever thought...

2011-03-02T21:10:00.001-06:00

...Good night Moon was boring, read below.

Have you ever noticed:

The bunny is in a different position in bed each time the bed is pictured. Check it out.
The mouse is in a different location on each page.
The clocks advance in time as the moon’s position changes.
There is a copy of Good night Moon on the nightstand next to the bunny's bed
The light and dark areas of the pages vary. The art is better than I first thought…
Is this a living room or a bedroom? Or… a studio apartment? Where’s the kitchen? Who made that mush?

Unfortunately I wasn't the observant one to notice all this. I found all of it here.

Marisa starts school!

2011-02-23T09:54:00.005-06:00

In her new tap shoes. She looks so proud.

Dance school that is. I had been looking around for an MDO program for Marisa. I really wanted something with Spanish instruction. She has also been showing a strong interest for anything dance related. She loves dress up and asks for me to put on music just so she can dance. One weekend there were ice skaters on tv and she was mezmerized by the choreography. She kept saying she wanted to dance like them. I considered ice skating for a a moment but then learned about this great mothers day out arts program, a bilingual one! I didn't need more convincing. I signed her up. Today was tap day but she will also have ballet and gymnastics. In addition to dance they have theatre, art, and music and some reading and math instruction, all in Spanish. Yesterday when we toured and visited, the music teacher played the congas . I love that she's getting culture on top of everything else too. She is so excited and I'm so glad I found something that is a perfect fit for her. Well, I'm off to cuddle with my newborn. It's been a long time since I've had a chance to enjoy that tranquility and sereneness of holding a newborn in the silence AND in the light of the day. :)

Warming up

2011-02-22T22:45:00.004-06:00

The nice weather has us outdoors again

At a local park

At the San Antonio zoo

Poor Karina

2011-02-21T23:07:00.003-06:00

Last week Karina had a fever of 101.9. I called the pediatrician and they told me I had to take her to the hospital because of her age. I knew from other friends' experiences that it would be unpleasant. Omar was out of town and it happened to be my first true time alone at home since Karina was born. (He'd been gone previously but I had help from his mom.) So that meant I had to bring the girls along. Luckily, I was able to drop Elena off with my cousin for the night and they also took her to school the next morning. Marisa had the stomach virus so she had to come with me. I knew what was ahead so I brought the stroller and she slept most of the time. My sweet little Karina was poked at least 6 times when they were trying to get an IV in and they even gave her a spinal tap. :( She cried and Mama cried too. We wound up spending the entire night there and finally arrived at home at 7 AM!! As I had suspected, they didn't find anything serious and said it was probably just a virus. She is much better now and I am so relieved that ordeal is over.

My sleeping beauties

Princess Karina

2011-02-13T17:17:00.003-06:00

I dozed off in the living room for a bit and when I awoke I found Karina like this. Elena turned her into a princess and Karina sure didn't seem to mind. :)

Karina update

2011-02-11T22:16:00.004-06:00

I realized I had not updated on Karina and she's had some significant developments so I wanted to take note of them. She is now 7 weeks old and smiling up a storm. She loves her swing, baths and the mei tai. She has gone through 3 illnesses already all colds and luckily none of them bad. She currently has laryngitis and sounds absolutely pitiful. She has no other symptoms other than not much sound comes out when she cries. I played it safe and took her to the Dr. even though there was no fever. I was shocked to find out she gained a whole pound from last week. She is now 10 pounds, 11 ounces. I'm always amazed at the power of milk.

After having a colicky baby--Elena, then an easy breezy newborn--Marisa, I counted on this baby--Karina being right in the middle. Turns out she is the easiest. I'm still afraid to admit it and even hesitate to write it because I know how babies' phases change so quickly. But, she is 7 weeks and hasn't gotten any fussier. She does not sleep like a newborn, not my newborns anyway. She goes to sleep at 10:30pm wakes once in the middle of the night to nurse and then awakens between 6 and 7am when I'm up to take E to school anyway. So it really feels like she only wakes up once through the night. Yesterday she slept 6 hours!! Granted she is sick and I know it's not typical but I do get 4 hour stretches of sleep, usually 5.

The girls have been absolutely wonderful with her. They turn on her swing, bring her her paci when they hear her cry and deliver all kinds of things to me when I'm plopped down to nurse.

Have I mentioned how in love I am with her? I know. I have. But I can't help it.

6 week smiles

2011-02-05T09:16:00.002-06:00

2011 SNOW!!

2011-02-04T08:49:00.005-06:00

I even got to wear my snow boots!

Babywearing

2011-02-03T14:34:00.009-06:00

If you've even glanced at my blog recently or ever, you know about my love for babywearing. I'm more obsessed with carriers than I care to admit. But I couldn't get by without them really. They've saved me so many times. I can distinctly remember one time in Belmont in the cold at the grocery store. I had Marisa on my back (in a carrier) and Elena walking beside me. We crossed the street and Elena began having a meltdown there in the middle. She refused to walk the flight of stairs that led to the grocery store. Feeling overwhelmed and panicked not knowing what to do (We all know the sheer determination and plain stubborness of a toddler),I picked E up and carried her. My problem was quickly solved and I continued on with my grocery trip but I couldn't have handled this well had I been carrying Marisa in arms. There are so many other instances like this that I won't bore you with but I thought I'd give a little insight to the carriers themselves and why I LOVE them.

The pouch--

This an easy carrier in my opinion. You slip it on like a sash, pop the baby in and go. I love the pouch because it's quick no messing with straps, buckles, or rings. The down side is that they are size specific. For example, Omar and I can't wear the same pouch. He needs a larger one. There are some adjustable ones although Omar still can't wear the small it does allow for adjustment for wearers more similar in size. Before K was born I found a used (Most of my carriers were purchased used) Kangaroo Korner Adjustable Fleece Pouch which has been great for the winter. The cute one in the picture is a HotSling. A great gift from Julia. Thanks Jules!

The ring sling--
If I was stranded on a deserted island :) and could only pick one carrier, it would be the ring sling. It's by far my favorite even though I think it's the trickiest carrier with a bit of a learning curve. It was my first baby carrier and perhaps the reason I like it so much. After Elena's birth I quickly learned that if I was ever going to eat I needed to wear her in the ring sling and prepare and eat my meal that way. I love it because of it's versatility. I can nurse in it discreetly anywhere and it is usually more comfortable for me to nurse in the ring sling than sitting down without the support of a nursing pillow. I also like the way newborns snuggle in a natural position in a ring sling.

The wrap--

A stretchy wrap (The Moby wrap in the picture) is my favorite wrap for newborns. Ironically, I haven't used it much with Karina because she pulls her head back and can't seem to get comforable, but it I loved it with Marisa and still recommend it for newborns. You can see comfy,cozy Marisa in a stretchy wrap here.
The increasing weight of your baby around 4-6 months makes a stretchy wrap less supportive. A two shoulder carrier like the two below are good options after that.

The Mei Tai--
While Elena lived in the ring sling, and Marisa in the Moby, Karina lives in the this Babyhawk mei tai. The headrest keeps her from pulling back and she quickly falls asleep. The mei tai is my favorite carrier for front carries for longer periods of time. The long straps can be cumbersome but the straps are what allows this carrier to work from newborn to 40 lbs and it can fit wearers of different sizes. A mei tai can also be worn on your back.

The Soft Structured Carrier--
I think structured carriers are user friendly and favorites among dads. I love this carrier because it's quick and easy and super comfy to wear with baby on your back especially once baby begins to get too heavy to wear on the front. These carriers are typically for babies who have head support (4+ months)to 35 pounds. Here's a post on this carrier that I posted previously.

Finally if you want to read up more on babywearing, this is a great forum with more info and reviews. You can also purchase used carriers on their For Sale Or Trade thread for great deals which is where I purchased most of my carriers. Also, if you want to try carriers before purchasing what is right for you check out your local babywearers group where you can try on and borrow carriers. I recently attended the one here to try and learn how to back carry a newborn and I was impressed with the extensive lending library.

Newborn portraits

2011-02-03T14:27:00.003-06:00

It was so much fun taking these. I'd do it again if it wasn't so cold. I felt bad enough that she didn't have clothes on. And the cute little hats are courtesy of my mom. I asked her to make one but leave it to her to make one and then some. Aren't the hats adorable? and my baby too of course! ;)

Out and about

2011-01-22T17:43:00.008-06:00

Karina is four weeks old, and I'm slowing beginning to feel like my normal self again. It's amazing the toll pregnancy takes on my body and how free my body feels after pregnancy without 30 extra pounds to carry.

We recently met up with the Motekaitis family at Zilker and later in the week I took a short drive to the New Branufels children museum with my friend Jamilyn who will be moving soon. These ventures were a reminder to take it slow and give myself a lot of time when leaving the house. I have yet to get out with all three girls by myself. Next week Omar leaves for a week for a conference. It's been so nice to have him home for an entire month! It will be an adjustment but luckily I planned ahead and asked his mom to come for the week. Slowly but surely our family of five will feel like the new normal. In the meantime I'll enjoy the squishy goodness of a newborn and her adoring siblings who can't seem to get enough of her. :)

Elena and Dominic
The cutest balloon creation I've ever seen.

The two dads with the middle children

MCKENNA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM

Karina is under that Mei Tai carrier

Jamilyn and Lily

My girls enjoying each other at home. :)

Abuelitos meet Karina

2011-01-22T17:31:00.002-06:00

New baby in the house

2011-01-20T22:49:00.003-06:00

1/1//11
1/8/11

Our new little family member

2010-12-31T09:29:00.013-06:00

We are blessed to welcome our beautiful baby girl. Karina Alejandra Gutierrez was born on December 25th 2010 at 2:37am. She weighed in at 7 lbs 9 oz. and measured 19.5 inches long. We hope to post more pictures soon.

Proud sisters and Grandma

A baby for Christmas

2010-12-25T21:25:00.007-06:00

The home stretch

2010-12-19T19:56:00.004-06:00

I'm 39 weeks. I'm at the point where everyone has an opinion about the actual day this baby will come or about my size. I guess it really started two/three weeeks ago and if you've been pregnant you can relate. Here are some quotes by random and familiar people, "I give you two weeks," "Don't think you'll make it to Christmas." "Any day now huh?" "You look like you're going to pop." And in just the last two days I've heard, the words, huge, enoromous, grande and gigantic all about how I look of course. Funny thing is this bothered me when I heard it a month and even 2 months ago. It did not feel good to be told those things earlier when I had so far to go. And, I guess now I must be immune to it cause it doesn't bother me anymore. In any case the truth is I always look large and since I feel large, ehh, why am I to argue. I'm just not the pregnant woman who hides it well.

Here are the facts. At my 37 week appointment I measured 41 weeks. Last week at 38 weeks I measured 37 weeks. So nothing unusual and the midwives always say that because of my stature and petite nature that baby only has one way to go and that is out. So it doesn't concern me. My blood pressure is good and my weight gain is right on track. Still haven't hit 30lbs. And I got to see our little girl last week in the low resolution ultrasound. They measured her head and it measured right at 38 weeks and she was just where she needed to be. :) I'm nervous, anxious, excited all at the same time. I generally feel okay. I'm starting to feel really, really tired these last few days and contractions don't just happen mostly at night they come in waves throughout the day with some discomfort and lots of pressure. Any day now (as that one person said) sounds just right!

Marisa is 3

2010-12-17T20:46:00.006-06:00

I swear I lost a year of the 3 of Marisa's life somewhere. It seems just last year she was on my back on my carrier or crying for me in the middle of the night wanting to nurse. She is so grown up and talks so much. She says quite a few funny things. A couple I remember off the top of my head are "bu-bu fanda" and "bruhat" instead of bruja hat. At the grocery store one day I was looking for Maizena(cornstarch pronounced My-sehna) She asked, "Mama what you looking for?" I said, "Maizena." She responded, "Mama you're looking for your -cena" (sehnah). This might be hard to find funny if you don't speak Spanish. Marisa is my girly girl. She loves dressing up, princess stuff, dancing and sparkles. She will drive me crazy pulling clothes out of the closet and trying them all on one my one. When she finds dresses she says, "dancing shirt" and dances around. She is also the cuddly one. While I can't request a hug from Elena and have to wait till she's ready, Marisa showers you with affection at any time of the day. She also adores animals and Jake in particular. Yesterday I found her turning his head to look at a book she was reading to him. Ha, ha! She has taken over as caretaker for Jake. She lets him out as soon as she's up in the morning and any time he's waiting by the door she says, "Mama/Daddy" Jake want to go outside" and she'll let him out and then back in. Marisa is extremely observant and I have to be careful what I do in front of her because she will always try it out on her own later. For instance she will climb the bathroom counter to get my eyelash curler to try it herself. She recently reached for her Daddy's razor...of course it's always the dangerous stuff she wants to try out. I am sensing the the 3's behavior coming on complete with the persistence and drama. I love having multiple children if only to humble me and show me just how different their personalities are. How it reminds me that there are some things I have no control over and flexibility is always key. Happy Birthday Little one! I love these angry pictures here. Just the 3 year old behavior I was talking about She loves her dress up chest from Grandma F!

Holiday Stuff

2010-12-17T20:13:00.005-06:00

When you don't have snow to make snowmen make marshmallow snowmen

Watching Rudolph and the Grinch at the park downtown

Baking cranberry bread

A live Nativity (Thanks Jamison for letting us know about this!)

She moves

2010-12-17T14:59:00.003-06:00

36 weeks

Elena's Christmas program

2010-12-17T14:54:00.004-06:00

Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T22:10:00.006-06:00

It was a nice relaxing holiday. My family came over which seems to be the tradition with my tendency to deliver holiday babies. :) We had a delicious Thanksgiving lunch and enjoyed the beautiful and suddenly changing weather. I surprised myself at now 8 months pregnant by spontaneously deciding to try and scalp tickets to the A&M/UT football game and had good luck finding good seats at a good price. I don't think I had attended a football game since a student at A&M when we were required to stand the entire time. This was not the case this time which was nice because I was able to sit when I needed and I didn't get too physically tired.

Elena is 5

2010-11-26T21:05:00.006-06:00

Elena is 5. What is hard to believe is that I feel I'm officially a parent now that I have a 5 year old. I know I've been parenting long enough, but I can remember thinking how experienced those parents of my former kindergarten students were with their 5 year olds; I certainly don't feel like I'm one of them but I suppose this makes it official.

Elena has blossomed so much especially now that she is in full time school. She is learning so quickly and I am so amazed at the things she says everyday and the amount of it!! She is still her bubbly self and sometimes it leads her to trouble or to being in trouble. But I love that she is so adaptable and easily gets over things that make her upset. At school her art teacher described her as a ball of sunshine. I think that describes Elena perfectly. I finally did an interview with her. I could have written paragraphs for each question!

What is your favorite color? yellow and red and also blue too. I have three favorite colors cause I love them so much!

What is your favorite food? peas and rice of Polar Express, ummm Panda Express. I forgot the name of the restaurant, and Panda Express is my favorite restaurant.

What is your favorite thing to play. I like to play with all the centers in my house, my favorite house!

What makes you feel happy? Playing at Hopping House and la senora (lady) telling me my shirt says birthday girl.

What makes you scared? The train sound in the night.

What do you like to do at school most of all? Me gusta el jardin.(I like the garden.)
Why? because I like to play together and plant the seeds.

What do you like to do with Daddy? Play games
What games? Connect 4

What do you like to do with mom? Play in the backyard and hug and kiss.

Don't worry, we cut this slice even further.

Marisa helping mix the cupcake batter
The school cupcakes

Centers

With her teacher

Relief

2010-11-04T13:08:00.002-05:00

31 weeks

I am now 32 weeks. Everything in my 31 week ultrasound looked good. Baby was about 3 lbs and measured according to her gestation, my fluid looked good, and my fundal height wasn't measuring 5 weeks ahead anymore. I measured 31cm at 31 weeks.

I also ended up having to see the Doctor and had a little scare because I had had over 12 contractions within one hour! The thing about it was that they started after a nap and continued in the car on my way to pick up Elena from school, so I was not over working myself. They finally gave me a test to determine my risk for preterm labor and it came back negative, so I was relieved. Shortly that same week I got a mild case of the flu. I had received the shot a month prior so I think I had some immunity to it and just had one REALLY bad day. For a moment I thought the nausea was back. But my relief was in finding out that all my discomfort, aches and pains, and yucky feeling were all related to this impending flu and not to the pregnancy. After that one bad day my energy was back, and I felt like my normal pregnant self again. Of course I took advantage of that, worked too hard, and now I have a cold, but at least I know the pregnancy is moving a long just fine and it's just these illnesses that are slowing me down. The contractions are less frequent and not as concerning to me anymore. Oh, and I think I'll be having a doula for this birth. I really excited about that.

Pumpkin patches, Fall festivals, P-carving, Trick or Treating

2010-11-04T12:24:00.006-05:00

Austin Pumpkin Patch

Elgin Christmas Tree Farm

On a hayride at the Round Rock Fall Festival

Mom's Club Fall Festival

Fall Festival at Elena's school

Pumpkin carving with Daddy

Trick or treating

My friend Anna joined us.

The REWARD!
After a lot of walking, Elena said, "I don't want anymore candy, this is enough."

My first shot...

2010-10-26T22:09:00.005-05:00

...at nothing but some sunflowers. We accompanied my SIL and BIL last fall (as you can tell by the lack of the baby belly and for me my long forgotten thinner frame) on a dove hunt(We just recently received these photos). No success for us, only for my 8 year old niece!!! I didn't attempt to shoot any doves anyway, but it was a good opportunity to feel what it's like to fire a shot gun.

Love that smile and dimples!

At a local park

2010-10-26T09:44:00.002-05:00

I know, I know, I look huge! And if I say it you won't. Ha, ha! But I love that every once in a while I happen upon a nice enough, rare photo like this of the girls and I. Who cares what I look like right?

Beach

2010-10-26T09:27:00.005-05:00

I love the beach and couldn't go without a yearly visit, at least! Luckily we somehow find a way to make it to the beach when we visit Omar's mom. On this day, Saturday, both girls woke up at 6am! There was no way they were going back to sleep so we went to breakfast and drove South (M fell asleep and didn't get to play). I'm so glad we made the 20 minute drive. It was a nice birthday present and I was quite jealous that Omar was going to Miami and Destin two weeks in a row for work without me. The last pic is actually the sunset in Miami that he sweetly sent to me by phone as my wake up call one morning. :)

Miami sunset

I passed!!

2010-10-18T14:22:00.002-05:00

I don't have gestational diabetes!! I am so relieved. I was worried about it all weekend long. An hour into the test I began feeling sleepy and lethargic...which usually happens to me when I don't eat for long periods of time. I convinced myself I couldn't have GT since I always struggle with the opposite--hypoglycemia. Anyway, I'm thankful and ready to move forward. 10 more weeks to go!!!

Update

2010-10-12T00:05:00.005-05:00

29 weeks
I haven't really posted many updates on this pregnancy because it's been going well and I have generally been feeling better than my last pregnancies. At 7 months the nausea is mostly gone and I'm not starving or running to the nearest restroom frequently anymore. Today I find myself a bit discouraged and worried though because I failed my glucose screening. The first test that is. I also failed the 1st test with Elena but later passed the 2nd one. With Marisa I passed the 1st and was thrilled not to have to do the 3 hour one again. I detest that test!! Who ever thought to deny a pregnant woman of food for 12+ hours wasn't thinking straight. Anyway, aside from that I'm measuring 5 weeks ahead!!! (fundal height). Again wouldn't worry me but I measured big with Elena with whom I had complications and measured just fine with Marisa with whom I had none. The last two weeks I've been feeling yucky in general. All kinds of aches and pains often and everywhere. Uncomfortable contractions often throughout the day which I don't remember having before. I'm uncomfortable enough to wonder, "How will I make it 2+ months, 11 more weeks?" It's the same thought I had with Elena early on, the feeling that something doesn't feel right and now that same feeling is back. Everything of course looks normal as of now and there are really no concerns with my midwives and doctors. But again there was no concern with Elena and everything was showing up fine up until the day I got induced.

I'll be having another ultrasound because of the fundal height and well I'll be going in for that 3 hour glucose screening. I suppose once those are completed some of my concerns will be eased. In the meantime I pray, pray, pray I start to feel more normal, more right and can get this baby to full term. Thank you God for blessing our family with new life again. Help me continue to nourish her within me as long as necessary. Amen.

Birthday

2010-10-11T23:59:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I celebrated my birthday with O's family and today I treated myself and the girls to a cupcake at Hey Cupcake! Ever been there? This place doesn't usually open on Mondays but it was today because of ACL. My lucky day. :)

Family fun

2010-10-11T23:48:00.003-05:00

Remembrance

2010-10-11T23:29:00.004-05:00

It seems to be becoming a tradition to head down South on the anniversary of Omar's father's death. How wonderful to know he watches from above as we remember his life and celebrate it with such unity.

A picture by Elena. I like how she captured the casualness of it all.

Cooking with Daddy

2010-10-11T23:07:00.003-05:00

A morning with Marisa

2010-10-11T23:00:00.004-05:00

I love running into places like these around town and on this day, the weather was divine. Notice Marisa wearing a sweater. There were soooo many ducks here it was unbelievable. A Grandma offered to share the bread she brought for the ducks with Marisa and Marisa became overwhelmed by the mass of ducks surrounding her. Eventually they stopped waiting for the bread to be given to them and they began biting at her hand. Poor Marisa was frightened, and I carried her until she calmed down. She came around though and then loved every minute of it.

Baby Shower?!

2010-10-11T22:50:00.003-05:00

I was really not expecting a shower for my 3rd baby but my Mami Latina mom's group surprised me and another pregnant Mami with one, and I was thrilled to be celebrating this new little one even if she is my third.
I loved this! Rather than measuring each of us and everyone trying to guess our size, the guests had to guess the sum of the length of both our bellies.
the beautiful cake
Presents
Diaper cakes

Sea World

2010-10-11T21:31:00.008-05:00

We learned about a great opportunity to attend Sea World on an educational day. The amusement park was closed and we leisurely visited the exhibits and ended our day with two culminating performances. My friend Jamilyn and her daughter joined us and I also had a huge help from my mom who accompanied us just to help this tired 'ol pregnant mama. We had a great time!
Looking at the dolphins with Grandma.

Feeding the Sea lions
An estatic face after seeing Shamu jump out of the water
Not surprised, my oldest fell asleep and missed the last show, the Sea Lions.

Kiddie Acres

2010-10-11T21:23:00.004-05:00

I have been having some nice one on one time with Marisa while Elena is in school. While at first I feel a little guilty and almost awkard taking one somewhere and not the other it's allowed us to have nice quality time with each other that we otherwise would not have. We went to a small little amusement park here in Austin that is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers. Can you tell which ride was her favorite? Hint: look at her attire.

Marisa's 1st haircut

2010-10-11T21:11:00.005-05:00

I'm a bit behind with posts so here are a few from a while back. I was so happy with the way Elena's hair turned out that the next day I went back to get Marisa's hair cut too. She was thrilled!

Before

looking at these two pictures I was surprised at how much my two girls look alike in profile. And I surprised myself even more with their similiar haircuts at home when I actually thought one was the other when looking at them from behind!!

Look at me!

Being silly

2010-09-15T20:46:00.006-05:00

Omar and I went to see Avatar in 3D (hence the glasses)the other day since it was still in theatres. We were the only ones there and had fun shooting silly photos. I thought the pics looked like booth pictures.

Elena's first haircut

2010-09-15T20:35:00.003-05:00

I've been trimming Elena's hair all her life and finally decided it was time for her to have a real haircut. She loved the experience.

I can't believe how much I wanted cut off. I love the new look though and it is so much more manageble.

Labor day weekend highlights

2010-09-15T20:19:00.004-05:00

Omar finishing up the treehouse

Catching a frog in the backyard
Discussing the frog's release
checking out the new view

trying out the slide

Visiting Cameron Park Zoo

Music city

2010-09-03T07:40:00.004-05:00

I love that we can find live music playing just about anywhere on any given evening in this city. I especially love it when the live music is paired up with a kid friendly atmosphere too. This locale had a little playground for the kids and then the music of course. It made for relaxing and modified dinner date night for Omar and I. And that's always nice.

Lowe's

2010-09-03T07:36:00.004-05:00

Ever done this?. It's a great free kid's building workshop offered at Lowe's. The girls loved it and were so proud after completing their school buses.

After a while of hard work Marisa preferred to have some cookies.

Elena's 1st day of Pre-Kinder

2010-08-23T09:10:00.003-05:00

Well this day came faster than we anticipated particularly because we didn't expect Elena to attend full day, everyday, public Pre-Kinder at 4 years old. It's a tuition based program offered at the district here, and we are thrilled about the opportunity, but still the house is quiet and I'm remembering the days of having just one child at home. I admit, I do miss having her around and listening to her play with her sister. I guess this is what parenting is all about--letting your child go.

Daughters

2010-08-19T18:10:00.005-05:00

I really wanted to get the song Daughters by Greg Brown on the blog but I have no idea how. Anyway, when we lived in Sonoma a co-worker gave the teaching staff a CD of music he enjoyed listening to as a thank you for donating money toward the purchase of a new guitar that was stolen at the school. Omar and I enjoyed this CD and Omar particulary liked the song Daughters by Greg Brown and sensed he would be the Dad in the song one day. We had no kids then. Here are the lyrics. Read it or watch this video version of it danced at a wedding by a dad and daugther, it will reveal something.

Daughters by Greg Brown

One is long and one is short,
One is thin and one is stout.
In the morning when they wake,
Only one's breakfast can I make.

One dances and knows
how many squares hopscotch ought to have.
One goes wah, wah, wah, wah, wah,
wah, wah, wah, wah, ha ha, wah wah.

One won't eat anything much,
I guess she lives on air and sun and noodles.
One's beginnin' to learn that the milk is over there
inside of that shirt beneath the blue eyes of the woman I love.

refrain:
I'm a man who's rich in daughters,
And if by some wild chance I get rich in money,
Like say another two thou a year or even one thou a year,
I'm gonna look in to havin' some more daughters.

When my daughter who is tall now was not so tall,
One night we were drivin' home in the truck and I was sad
because I was busted and disgusted,
And she looked out the window and said, "Dad, the moon is comin' home
with us."
She said, "Dad, the moon is comin' home with us."

refrain

And in the morning they magic the house,
The one that can walk, walks in warm and still dreamin' to give
me a hug or ask why it's so cold or why is there school,
"Why's it so cold?" or "Why is there school?"
And the one who can't walk or talk yet just lies in bed and laughs,
She just lies in bed and laughs.

Marisa dancing

2010-07-31T11:30:00.004-05:00

I'd like to say I influenced her in these dance moves but dancing is not my strong suit even though I love it. She's been dancing around recently with all sorts of moves that I haven't a clue where she learned them. This is one of them. Enjoy!