A re-newed park!

When I was pregnant, and even before, I used to wake up every morning to walk at this local park. This park, which is less than 1/4 mile away from our home, was covered mostly in grass. There were a few trees spread all around. Very pretty park. Below are 2 pictures of it in early fall 2008.




My neighbor and I would take Zero and her dog to this park and we would walk for about 45 minutes and sometimes an hour. At the park, we would release the dogs, while we walked and talked. By the time we got back home, the dogs were covered in wet grass, and our shoes were muddy & grass stained.

Well, right before I was due to deliver Eddie,around late December 2008, the park closed down for renovations. I remember thinking to myself, I hope they add trails or else how can I walk there with the baby? He will get his feet all covered in wet grass.

I am so excited to announce they have re-opened the park and it is SO perfect! They did add the trails and more.

Today, was my first half day at work. I went to my MIL's house, had lunch there then came home to open the door for a delivery we were expecting. I decided to go for a walk with Zero and Eddie, when to my surprise, I noticed the park was no longer fenced! I immediately turned the stroller in to the park and started to walk and walk...

See? The grass is separate from the trail :)


There are park benches and trash cans now


Look! They even installed baggie dispensers to clean up after the dogs! (Zero just peed on the dispenser)



We really enjoyed walking the trail. Eddie even fell asleep.




You don't know HOW excited I am about this! I LOVE to walk!

Thanks for checking on us.

Eddie's great grandpa

We went to visit my grandfather. He is my dad's father.

We'll call him Tata for the rest of the blog, cause that's what I had to call him (Pronounced Thah-thah.) Although I never understood why we call our grandpa's Tata, in Spanish.

Here we were talking about owning property. (Below)


(Tata, me and Eddie) My cousin, Isis who had her first baby 3 years ago. She gave us some really cute gifts.

Eddie's Uncle CJ and Tia Nat gave him these shoes he's wearing. They are a really cool pair of Nike's that really don't fit him yet, but I insisted he wear that day...They made him look bigger ahahaha!


My Tata says: "Aver, pasa me ese vato!" I guess that translates to "Here, give me that dude!



My dad's sister (left) talking to my MIL and GIL...
So I found out that my Tata has about 20 great grandchildren. But guess what? My GIL, G's gramma has 30+ great grandchildren! OMGAZ!


My Tata holding our little man...he was so manly holding him too. Asking him questions as if he were talking to another man his age:

"How's life treating you?" he asked Eddie.


"Nice to meet you, great grandpa" says Eddie


I would have liked to have met my great grandparents. I don't think I ever did.

I am glad Eddie had a chance to.

Thanks for checking on us!

3 months

Saturday was a nice trip to grandpa's house (great grandpa to Eddie) I will have to post a blog separately, later. I need to have the pictures uploaded :)

G took some better recliner/birthday pictures of him and I will update this post later with the better ones. I tried to start taking pictures of him this time, but he didn't want me to put him down. So, I stopped and picked him up.
I am almost sure Eddie weighs 15 lbs now. Last week when grandma took him to the Dr., he was just a little over 14 lbs. I am so tripping out on how the glow worm's body seems to be getting smaller ;)


Sunday 4/26 we celebrated Eddie's 3 month birthday. The reason is, because in some cultures, it is believed that acknowledging the baby's 3 month birthday is good luck and a celebration of 1 year of life. If you consider conception through birth to 3 months, it totals 1 year.

To celebrate, we went to Round Table, one of our favorite casual and comfortable restaurants and had some pizza! Grandparents met us there and we just chatted while Eddie, yes, slept most of the get-together away. When he finally woke up, we snapped some pictures

Thanks to great aunt Patty for this outfit.

Eddie's new thing, as you all know is his hands. And he is learning to use them. Although his grip of things isn't strong enough to hold for a long period of time, he likes to bring things to his mouth and explore.

Eddie has brought so much to our world. He is a blessing to us. It is an honor to know him and take care of him. I can't thank God enough for sending us such a beautiful baby.

As for me, my first week was eventful, to say the least. The company I work for is not doing well financially. A lot of employees were laid off while I was on maternity leave. I have actually been given the opportunity, with a salary reduction, to work part time. I will be working full days Monday and Tuesday. But I will be leaving work at noon Wednesday through Friday. I am happy to be able to be home more with Eddie, while still being able to keep up with our expenses.

Of course, I will no longer be able to buy the "extra" things. But I know G and I will make the most of it. I plan to continue making videos, a source of "extra" income. By the way, I recently got an $$$ increase in how much I make for each video! That's pretty exciting! I also asked my MIL if I could help her once in a while with her business, if she needs me. If not, I think we can make it! Please pray that our financial situation continues to be healthy and helpful for Eddie. I have faith in God that this will all be ok. I believe it will benefit Eddie to have his mom around more often. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to work part time.

Thanks for checking on us!

Happy 1 year of life anniversary Eddie.

Look what I can do 3

Click the PLAY button |>

Almost done

The week is almost over. I am looking forward to the weekend. Tomorrow, we have an 80s potluck here at work. I wish I had time to really get into it. I wish I wasn't feeling as sick as I do. I feel horrible. I thought I was getting better but I just can't rest. I am sick of hearing myself talk about being sick. I am sick of hearing myself complain and whine.

Anyway, my grandfather is the only grandparent I have left (Beside my grandmother in law, through Gerardo-Eddie's great grandma.) I didn't grow up close to my grandfather, as a child. He was a nice man to me. Standing at about 6 feet tall with a deep voice, he was very intimidating. He used to pull dollar bills out of my ear and let me keep them. He did this to all of his G-kids though. He has a lot of sons and daughters. Those sons and daughters gave him a lot of G-Kids. I think it's hard to keep up a good relationship with each G-child, when you have more than 10.

The picture below is from about 2007. My grandpa with most of his grand kids. A lot were missing that day, including my sister, Belen and bother, Emmanuel. I'm the prettiest one huh?

LOL JK...I only say that because some of my cousins (pictured below) read this blog.

Below is a picture of my grandpa and his great-grand kids. The little boy immediately to his left, wearing light green is actually my dad's step son.

Since 2007, more great-grand kids have been born, including Eddie.

Actually, I didn't start talking much to him until I was in my late teens. I began to call him, after my grandmother died. I saw how much he suffered after she died and I knew he was getting older. So, I started calling him on my way home from work. Turns out, he is very funny and a fun person to talk to. Cusses a lot and likes to talk about guns, but it's OK. I enjoy it. I am sorry I missed him as a kid.

I want him to meet our son. We are driving out to L.A. this weekend to see him and introduce him to one more great-grandchild.

I pray to God that I am better by then.

Here's a cute picture of Eddie, falling asleep.

Thanks for checking on us.

Under my um-ber-ella-ella-ella hey hey hey!

That cold that Eddie caught was passed to me the night before-I don't think I mentioned that I was not feeling well yesterday. But it really hit me bad last night. I felt like I was going to die, seriously! I couldn't breathe through my nose from the congestion and I couldn't "breef" through my mouth due to a dry, irritated throat and congested chest! Oh my what a night. G said that at one point, I started crying-Don't remember that LOL! I don't know how Eddie dealt with this cold. It hit me hard and I haven't been that sick in years. I feel a tiny bit better today.

As far as organization before heading to work, I did a little better today. I didn't forget his milk. I did however, forget my lunch and snacks at home-Gah! Although I did hang it on the doorknob. It's OK. Every day is better.

Guys/men/boys, don't read this pink part:
(Trust me, you don't want to read this. Move on to the next paragraph.)

Girls, I have been pumping more than usual and I am paying the price. Painful engorgement. Oh it hurts to so much. I hope pumping will get easier over time. I've also been feeding Eddie a bottle before bed time. It's like all of his little feedings through the night, condensed into one bottle. He hardly fed through the night last night. At least I don't think he did. I was so out of it. But this morning I woke up with painful engorgement. I am used to having him feed through the night in small doses. It was bad. I don't want to describe it because most of you girls are mommies and know what I am talking about :( I hope it the nightly milk production will subside :( OUCH!

I used an umbrella to cover up Eddie's car seat today. I also dangled a toy from it and covered him up completely. It really did the trick to prevent the morning sun from hitting his face.

G picked Eddie up from Grandma's yesterday. All the way home, he and Eddie played "Marco Polo." G would say "Marco!" and Eddie would reply "AHHHH!" Then G would say it again and Eddie would reply over and over. It was G's idea to prevent him from crying on the way home. On the way to Grandma's this morning, I played their "Marco Polo" game with Eddie, per G's suggestion.

Eddie is now with Grandma at the Drs. I can't wait to hear what the doctor will say about Eddie. He sounded a lot better today. I think the humidifier that G set up in the room really did help. I know some of you suggested that as comments to a previous blog.

Here's a picture of Eddie at Grandma's today.

Thanks for checking on us!

First day at work

It was a good day at work. Everyone was so nice, welcoming me back.

I can't say the same about my morning. I totally forgot all of the
stored milk I pumped last week, at home!
Wasn't until I was almost exiting the traffic filled freeway that I
realized it, after a trucker was honking at me about Eddie's face in
the sun.
Turns out that when I drive west to grandma and grandpa's, the harsh
morning sun blinds Eddie :( We need a sunshade. I did pump milk at
grandma's, but spilled the first bottle I filled up. I had to show up
late to work. Grandpa drove all the way to our house to get the stored
milk, while I was at work.
Long story short, I need sleep and to get myself together.

Just like the night before, I prepared most of our stuff at night.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Eddie has a Drs appt. Tomorrow, Tuesday at 11:15 am. Grandma will be
taking him. He seems to be better than yesterday, but still congested
and has a difficult time breathing, let alone feeding at night without
desperately gasping for air.

I need sleep desperately. I have to work tomorrow. Hopefully, tonight
Eddie will not stay awake all night again.

Zombie mom...

Sent from my iPhone

Scary

Last night we came home to find someone tried to break into our house.
The back window had been attempted to be jammed open, but they were
unsuccessful.

I had just sat on the recliner and was about to start feeding Eddie, after
arriving home, when G whispered to me, "Get out of the house."

It was one of the scariest moments to live through. Luckily, we
weren't home when it happened. And whoever did it, had already gone.

Zero was outside in the back when it happened.
He must have scared them off. He is OK. No signs of injury :( thank goodness.

Within minutes of seeing what happened, we called the police, notified
the neighbors and called family. Everyone responded quickly: Some came
by to check the house with us while others called more neighbors to
inform them of what had happened. Some came to make sure we
were OK. It was reassuring.

We heard later that everyone's dogs were
barking like crazy and that they knew something out of the ordinary
was going on. Some neighbors came by to check, but by then the
person(s) breaking in must have gone.

We survived sleeping through the night, although G and I felt so
vulnerable with our new baby.

Our usual friendly-to-all creatures dog, killed a bird today. One of
the many birds who pecks at him daily, eats his food and poops in his
water. He usually walks away and ignores them.

I hope this is not a sign of the bad economy, because I know it is
supposed to get worse.

Sadly, because we rushed out of the house without covering up, in an effort to quickly escape possible danger, Eddie caught his first cough and cold. Today he is resting up and hopefully getting better.

This is the time to pray.

Thanks for checking on us.

Sent from my iPhone

Eddie likes his hands

He stares at them, talks to them, moves them around in front of him.
He makes fists, opens his hands, lifts one or two fingers and also
smiles at them.
Oh the fun of discovery :)

Eddie likes cars

It seems that when we turn on the television, Eddie doesn't always have interest.
But just about every time there is a video of a car or cars crashing, he freezes and stares.
I caught a video of him, staring at a car video, last week.

I went online and I played the first video I found on YouTube after searching for key words: Car cartoon animation.
The animation starts off, just as it does in the video you are about to see, but what I didn't record was in the middle of the cartoon, the car drives by a girl and the wind causes her skirt to lift. I said "Oh don't look!" LOL! WOOPS! Guess I should start checking things before I show them to the baby huh?
Here's a link to the video we were watching, if you want to see it.

Anyhoo, below is a video of Eddie enjoying watching a video about cars.

(Please don't mind the mess in the background-we were going through some issues, related to the aforementioned pests.)


He really likes them :)

Thanks for checking on us!

5 days and counting...

The happenings and an Easter picture

This year, for Easter, we went to a local park. It was a last minute thing that we were invited to. We decided to go because it was so close to home. Having a new baby and being new parents, there is only so much you can do in a social environment. Originally, our plans were to stay home.
Eddie slept through most of the event. Here is a picture of our little family (not pictured Zero.) Gerardo's cousin took this picture of us.



Gerardo ended up being sick as heck this day, but I had been complaining about wanting to get out of the house all week, that he sucked it up and didn't tell me how sick he was until today (the day after.) Thank goodness we were only there for a little while. The weather started getting cool too, so we left earlier than everyone else.

Today, Monday, I decided to take the baby and go visit G at his work. I hadn't done this since I've been on leave. But it's my last week, I thought it would be a good time for us 3 to have lunch together. Eddie and I stopped by a Chick-Fil-A and then drove to dad's work. We sat in the back seat of my car as we chatted with each other and baby. Then, dad picked Eddie up and walked outside with him for fresh air. It was warm today.

This week, I will be working on several things:
1) Trying to pump and store as much milk as possible :S (Moooo!)

2) Working on getting Eddie to not cry as much during car rides. G will be picking him up from grandma and grandpa's every day and I know G is not as tolerant as I am of Eddie's crying. It makes G want to pull over and fix the problem right away. But usually the problem is he wants OUT of the car seat. Where as I can ignore his annoyed or bored cry until we get to where we are going (of course not if he sounds like he is in pain or if he is hungry.)
For this reason, I have decided to allow Eddie to have a pacifier in the car. Originally, we didn't want to give him one. But we don't have that luxury with me returning to work. I kind of don't want to build an addiction to it, so for now, it will only be a car thing. Unless of course grandma needs it while she is watching him...I don't know...I am not savvy on the subject so we'll see what happens. I hear/read/know good and bad things about using a pacifier.

I let him use it again a minute ago, when he was crying from being woken up for a diaper change and for the purpose of taking a picture for the blog.
He likes it.


3) I am also teaching him to grasp the pacifier and put it back in his mouth. He almost had it today. But he may be too young. I just don't want him to drop it while he is in the car with dad.
For the past week or more, he has been grasping objects. He was always able to grab and hold, since he was born. But now, it seems to be stronger and more purposeful. Here's a video of him grabbing and holding a rattle phone (I was using hand gestures to tell him to put the phone by his ear :)



4) Working on allowing him to sleep in places other than my arms. :( This one hurts. I want to let him continue sleeping on me, but I am putting him down more and more. Making him get used to it.

Hopefully, all of these things will make it easier for him to transfer from home to grandma's. I am thankful for having her to watch and love Eddie while I am at work. I don't know how I would handle dropping him off at day care with strangers.

Thanks for checking on us....6 days and counting....

I sent this to my family

Just this morning. It makes me laugh.

Happy Easter everyone.

Remember Easters' true meaning :)

Mommy's weight update 4-10-2009

I have to make this one quick, we have company coming. I have been cleaning today, in spurts. Eddie has been especially cute and clingy (I am not being sarcastic.) Crying when I put him down, he makes sounds like "Nna nna!!!" It sounds a lot like "Mama!"
I can't help but pick him right up again, my little heart. He just wants me to hold him. The house doesn't have to be SPOTLESS for company, right? :D

I haven't mentioned that putting him down, no longer makes him cry. Actually, there are several places I can put him down that for sure, he can stay for a while: The bedroom floor, when I want to quickly change his diaper, and am home alone. I know he won't fall from there, so it's easy. I can also put him down on the bed. He will wait for me in a room, alone for up to 30 minutes without crying. I know this because I have done this while I clean the house. I come back frequently to check on him. His swing is another place. He can be on it for a long time. Today though, he has been on me. I wonder if he can pick up on my anxiety vibes about leaving him soon and returning to work.

Anyway, I checked my weight this morning and I have only lost a couple of ounces. I want to call it as no weight loss. But, strangely enough, I feel more slim from doing my workouts at home. I have been doing sit ups, squats without weights and walking. Although, we haven't walked for two days due to the gloomy weather. I keep thinking about my return to the gym in May.
I know it's going to be tough on my body to start toning with the weights I used to use. It's been almost a year since I last hit the heavier-weights.

Well, here we are, Eddie and I cuddling like we've been all day. He so loving today.




These pajamas makes me smile. I am putting them on him often before he grows out of them too.


Thanks for checking on us!

Weekend Blog: Red bird-I like you!

This toy belongs to Eddie's cousin, who is now 1 1/2 years old. Grandma let us borrow it this weekend to entertain him. Eddie's toes just reached the ground a bit and occasionally he would push himself to bounce. It was cute.

But most of all, he liked his friend, the red bird.

One of the cutest things you can see a baby do is find friendship in the most random items LOL!






"Red bird, you are my friend."

Thanks for checking on us!

Weekend blog: Mom's haircut

Don't all new moms get their hair cut? It's like a chapter in the book "What To Expect When You Are Expecting." Chapter 44: The haircut.

Anyway, I finally called the girl who used to do my hair and asked her to chop off about 4-5 inches in layers. I hadn't cut my hair since some time in May or June of 2008. I will be posting a video on my YT channel, soon, of the hair cut process.

Third month, post-baby, I will begin to lose my hair, right? I might as well look a little nice while it happens :S I thought about getting my hair lightened but I think I will keep it natural color for a while. It's less maintenance in the long run.

Here's my natural, air-dried hair before.


Here's my hair, newly cut and blow style-dried (After):


Oh by the way, remember this blog?

Here's my "Before baby" picture of my face


During pregnancy picture of my face



And "after" mom-face picture.


Thanks for checking on us!

Crib sleepin'

With my brother no longer occupying the bedroom/nursery, I was able to remove some items that were being stored in the baby's crib. Tonight, for the first time, I put him in his crib and he has been asleep in it for about 2 hours. For the past week, he has been napping without me. Little by little, I am able to leave him alone. It started as a few minutes and led up to about 45 minutes to an hour on alone napping.

He is getting better at sleeping through the night. Except, a few nights ago, he woke up every hour on the hour. It was like back to the early weeks. Recently, he has been waking up about 2-3 times a night. We're still sleeping with him in our bed for immediate feedings.

What really frustrates him, at night, is when the milk runs low on one side and I have to switch him to the other side :S That's when he lets out a big cry and it wakes us all up. Poor Gerardo. At least I get to stay home and rest-even though I don't go back to sleep. And I don't always follow the best advice "Nap when baby naps."

Anyway, baby has been asleep in his own crib for the past 2 hours or more.
Here are some shots I snapped with my cell phone camera. It is dim in there and my phone doesn't have a flash, so that's why these image are so fuzzy.



I am not going to leave him in the crib overnight because the crib is not ready. It still has some areas on the sides that need to be adjusted for safety.
But for sure, it's a positive step that has been overdue. Here I am blogging with the baby monitor on him.

Next, I am going to give Gerardo a much needed massage. *insert audience ooh-ing*

Thanks for checking on us!

Weekend blog: Eddie's first bottle

This weekend, on April 5th, we gave Eddie a bottle. It was his very first time. He's been exclusively feeding with mom since he was born.

We decided to start working on it, since we were at grandpa and grandma's this weekend. Also, I return to work in less than 2 weeks and I wanted to start practicing bottle feeding.

Well whaddaya know! The little guy who loves to eat, liked his bottle :)

Here's grandma holding and feeding him-

I spiked his hair like that for visitors that day :D

Last night, G was able to feed him, while I gabbed with MIL on the phone. We both sort of enjoyed that. I mean, I enjoyed watching Dad feed Eddie for the first time and Dad enjoyed feeding Eddie for the first time.

In case you are wondering, that is a Dr. Browns brand bottle. I didn't know much about them until recently. If you want to know more, you can visit this link.

Thanks for checking on us!

Weekend blog: Family love for Eddie!

There is so much to blog about this weekend! I've decided to blog in different categories about each event. This blog is all about how special Gerardo and I felt this weekend. We had visitors every day of the weekend!

Since having the baby, I now understand how important it is to have your baby looked at, once he/she is here. It makes you feel so excited to know that people are on their way over to see his cute face and get a glimpse of his personality. I appreciate every single family member who took time out of their day to make us feel proud!

Gerardo's aunts, uncles and cousin met Eddie this weekend. Even Gerardo's cousin's son, LJ (which makes him....Eddie's 2nd cousin?) got to meet Eddie.

LJ's mom says, "gentle." This little guy, LJ, has such a charming personality. He is a giggler and an explorer. I have totally fallen for his dimples. I can't wait to see him again. I am lucky to have G's family for their good looks ^__^


How cute is Gerardo's aunt with her curly hair? :D
E, look at your mom arms. You can't get those at the gym. Those come from daily baby holding. Can't wait to gain my mom arms :D


Gerardo's aunts and uncle, of course, watched Gerardo grow up. And now, they got to hold and look at Gerardo's son.



Below is G's aunt looking down at Eddie as he slept in her arms. I should have asked her what she was thinking as she watched him.


My cousins (My dad's brother's daughters) drove 2hrs down from up North to see Eddie too. They got to hold him and even dress him into the clothes they bought for him. (Clothes not pictured)


They arrived just as I put Eddie down for a nap, so he was a little drowsy when they first picked him up.


The most common topic of discussion with everyone was, who he looks like :D It was interesting to hear every one's point of view. And guess what? Gerardo won. Most people said he looks like his dad.

I have to say again, I can't describe how happy I felt to have family picking him up and just holding him. It's almost like I want to share with those that I love, what I feel when I pick him up and hold him :D

I am not done with the weekend blog. I will come back and blog some more as soon as I have access to more pictures.

Thanks for checking on us!