morning laughs

 I am pretty sure know that a new born is very demanding, they depend on you for E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G and yes I meant capital letters there.  We've all have to made adjustments in mi casa lately.  Without a doubt I have resorted to tricks, shortcuts and cheats to make life easier and enjoy the early days with Emma.  During these past 5 weeks I have become best friends with my crock pot and leftovers have been a lifesaver, pizza nights and takeout on the weekends have been very much appreciated by truly yours!  I've left the house to drop off the kids to school in the mornings while plates have been piling up in the sink and trash cans full of well...trash.  I've mastered the fine art of doing things with one hand. Showers have been so quick that I hardly wet the back of my knees :/ and sleep hours have been cut short... too short.  I am surely talking for myself on the sleep topic, as everybody else seems to enjoy their down time).  I've also opted to let some things slip by only to keep my sanity.  I've recruited help from the kids to help around the house and settled with the way they help around.  

I was so glad when I realized Sophia is such a good mamma to Emma even though she says she does not want any kids of her own.  As soon as she hears her squealing she runs to her rescue holds her, tries the binky, tries to calm her down.  She will try everything except change diapers which is very understandable.  On the other hand while I'm in the bathroom and Emma screaming her lungs out! Xavi can be watching TV, playing yoyo very relaxed paying not much attention to her new sister I guess he does not have that maternal instinct.  He is improving little by little though :)

To keep my a sound mind I try looking for the bright side of things.  For today's morning laugh I will tell you what happened last week while in the kitchen. Sophia and Xavi were looking for a before bed snack. The kitchen was clean and I was holding Emma I asked Sophia if she could fix me a slice of bread with peanut butter.  I saw her grabbing a plate and instantly told her no plate I didn't want any more dirty dishes so I told her to use a napkin.  I then asked her if she could serve me some milk 'sure' she said 'would you like it in a napkin as well' she said in a sarcastic way.  I burst out laughing like I haven't done in a long time. 

That's my smarty pants kid.

Excuse me, I was just trying to save some water, time and effort all so that I can enjoy more time with my newborn.
Because holding Emma and doing absolutely nothing means absolutely everything to me.

Hope you week started of good!

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postpartum confessions

Pregnancy for me was really a roller coaster of emotions be it shock, excitement, happiness, fear you name it!  so many ups and downs too many in one single day at times!  I have some confessions to make. Looking back some of them seem silly to me now but oh so real and strong emotions at the time.

• I cried lots and lots all through  the entire pregnancy.  I learned we were expecting at 5 weeks. Early enough to have plenty of time to shed tears.  Like every time Javier would say "what are we going to do now?" but then again he did that with all of our pregnancies so I should have know better that the man was only freaking out. Thank goodness that stage for him was over soon or I really would have cried every single day!!  I cried when reading about the stages of labor thinking "I have to go through that again?? I also cried at the dentist, if you recall.  I cried when we made the decision to leave our home and temporarily move to San Diego. Heck TV made me cry.  Even after Emma was born I cried when breastfeeding wasn't going as planned :(  I had to introduce my expressed milk in a bottle to her and she gulped it so fast that it only broke my heart...hormones working at their best.
• I napped a lot!  Napping is really one thing I have never done.  I hardly ever find the time to nap even when I am sick, but this time around I found myself so tired during the morning hours that I just found myself napping in order to continue the day...I almost felt guilty I must confess almost but not quite to be honest I really enjoyed it...
• My belly popped out pretty early, I was really surprised.  I found myself checking out other ladies bellies.  Sometimes it was easy to tell if it was a pregnant belly.   I always wondered how far along were they?, what was their due date?
• I downloaded this pregnancy app called 'I'm expecting' from MedHelp I spent most of my afternoons browsing through the forums.  There were divided into age categories starting from 18 yrs plus (even there were 15 and 16 year old girls posting that they were pregnant!) I mostly visited the pregnancy social and the 35+ pregnancy forums.  I wasn't very active on it I mostly read the posts some of them were kind of like Jerry Springer fun because the younger ladies would post trying to find out their ovulation date because they needed to know who their baby daddy was this guy or the other??  what?? how would someone else know who your baby daddy is?  Ladies in their 40's and plus asking for advice in how to get pregnant.  Other ladies throwing a fit because of gender disappointed!! OMG drama drama :/  In my hours of insomnia this little app helped me pass the time.
• Since I learned it was a girl that I was expecting I started browsing the baby's department and gear specially the clearance section. Who doesn't love to shop for a baby?  I love to find a good bargain on clothing even if I have to store it in a plastic tub for 2 years :)
• Every Sunday afternoon when we drove to San Diego we stopped at MacDonalds where I enjoyed a Double cheeseburger and a caramel sundae.  It was my craving!  All that changed when the glucose testing started even way before they diagnosed the GD.  MickeyD was my guilty pleasure :(
• Once GD kicked in I kept a food journal, it was very overwhelming at first I've never had to count carbohydrates before.  Water became my best friend!  I wasn't allowed milk or fruit before noon and I learned how much a whole banana raised my glucose levels.  Planning my meals became easier with time and practice.  Confession time right?  well I did have a small piece of cake at my baby shower very tiny tiny one and later during that day I didn't test my glucose :/  After Emma was born I would glance and every restaurant sign and giggle wow I can have that now!  I was ready to eat.  I also walked a lot, I mean a lot.  I walked before Xavi's school started and before he got out of school people started asking me when was I due since they saw me walk every day!
• I constantly thought about the people that I left behind when we did the temporary move. Of course my neighbors knew about our situation, besides that I don't really have a lot of friends in town but the people I know from the kids' school wondered what the heck happened to us?  Since our decision was so sudden I didn't have time to explain or give details.  Now we are back with our new family addition and glad to see them again.
• I loved my Doctor and nurse!  I had a great experience at the hospital.  Everyone was so nice I mean everyone!
• Finally, I asked God for forgiveness for being mad a him 5 yrs ago when our last attempt to get pregnant failed. Yeah  I was pretty upset and wasn't understanding or accepting his way I just wasn't taking it.  I must confess I even doubted him.  He had failed me when I had put all my trust in him.  Big lesson it's his way and not ours!  His timing and not ours!

To finalize this long post...sorry :( I'd like to share these pictures.  Emma was born on a Thursday and the following Sunday it poured then the biggest and most beautiful rainbow appeared.  After the storm comes the rainbow right?  I am so thankful that God sent me a beautiful and healthy child.  Bonus, rainbow pictures is one more item checked off my bucket list which I am running behind gotta get working on it :)

Have a great weekend and a Happy Spring!

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out of the box

Hello my friends I am back in my house full time and out of the box! The box that is what we used to call the tiny apartment were we stayed in San Diego.  The kids are back in their old schools.  I am happy but it is a bittersweet situation I do miss my mom and being spoiled by her.  Javier stayed at his job as there was no job opportunity close to home!  Anyways our goal was accomplished as we stayed together as a family all through the pregnancy and birth of Emma.  

At three weeks old Emma is gaining so much weight and is much more alert that when she was a few days old.  She is a happy and easy baby!  I won't deny we have had rough days and nights :/  I have been sleep deprived and breastfeeding didn't go as planned.  I opted for pumping the milk (just like I did for my other two children)  oh well sometimes you plan things and they don't come out the way you want them to.  But you know what at this point in my life I would not change a thing.  I may look awful but feel so blessed with my baby and I don't want her to grow I wish I could cuddle her day and night!

All thorough the pregnancy I thought long and hard about this little blog of mine.  Would I resume my blogging?  Would I have the time and energy to blog after the baby is born? There were times in the past that I have been very active in blog land but with a new baby there are new routines to get used to.  At times I thought maybe the birth of Emma would be a good time to stop blogging.  Yeah! the birth of a new tiny human being would mark the end of my blogging cycle.  It's not like I have a super interesting life or shall I say pinteresting??  I've said it a few times I only choose to blog about the things that I want to remember like Xavi jumping on my bed and the shots I took of the action or Birthday parties or our morning messiest hair contest... So I decided to keep blogging without commitment, without putting pressure on myself.  I really enjoy this little corner of mine and want Emma to be a part of it.

I closed my etsy shops back in January because it was getting harder and harder to make it to the Post Office on Saturdays and I was nesting there were other things to take care of.  This week I just opened them again and the only obstacle that I see is the trips to the Post Office but I have to get the kids ready for school anyways and my favorite and closest Post Office is open at 8:30 am so I think we can make it work!  Just as blogging trips to the Post Office will be done as time and Emma permits.  My etsy shops and my customers are very important to me they make me feel a business woman but now there are real priorities in my life!

So stay safe and take care of yourselves until next time!

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