Ava wanted to wish everyone a very Merry CHRISTmas. Remember...tonight a King is born!
Hope you all enjoy the photo that Jackie took of me. If you are looking for a great photographer go to Jackie's website: http://www.jacquelinephotography.net/
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Feliz Navidad!
Ava wanted to wish everyone a very Merry CHRISTmas. Remember...tonight a King is born!
Hope you all enjoy the photo that Jackie took of me. If you are looking for a great photographer go to Jackie's website: http://www.jacquelinephotography.net/
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Surprise!
I sat up all on my own for the very first time yesterday! And what do you think of my dress?
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
The Pain of His Child
Many of you know the story. Jim Desmond and his twenty-six-year-old son, Derek. Derek was favored to win the four-hundred meter race in 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Halfway into his semifinal heat, a fiery pain seared through his right leg. He crumpled to the track with a torn hamstring.
As medical attendants were approaching, Derek fought to his feet. "It was an animal instinct," he would later say. He set out hopping, pushing away the coaches in a crazed attempt to finish the race. When he reached the stretch, a big man pushed through the crowd. He was wearing a t-shirt that read "Have you hugged your child today?" The man was Jim Redmond, Derek's father.
"You don't have to do this," he told his weeping son. "Yes, I do," replied Derek. "Well, then." said Jim, "we're going to finish this together." And they did. Jim wrapped Derek's arm around his shoulder and helped him hobble to the finish line. Fighting off security men, the son's head sometimes buried in the father's shoulder, they stayed in Derek's lane to the end. The crowd clapped, then stood, then cheered, and then wept as the father and son finished the race. (Max Lucado)
What made the father do it? What made the father leave the stands to meet his son on the track? Was it the strength of his child? No, it was the pain of his child.
I can tell you as a mother, seeing my child in pain is heart wrenching. I would agree to take the place of my daughter any day of the week in order to spare her little legs from being injected during our doctor's visits. Seeing her in agony brings an overwhelming feeling of sadness over me.
God feels my pain. He yearns to take the broken pieces of my heart and put it back together. If only I let Him.
As medical attendants were approaching, Derek fought to his feet. "It was an animal instinct," he would later say. He set out hopping, pushing away the coaches in a crazed attempt to finish the race. When he reached the stretch, a big man pushed through the crowd. He was wearing a t-shirt that read "Have you hugged your child today?" The man was Jim Redmond, Derek's father.
"You don't have to do this," he told his weeping son. "Yes, I do," replied Derek. "Well, then." said Jim, "we're going to finish this together." And they did. Jim wrapped Derek's arm around his shoulder and helped him hobble to the finish line. Fighting off security men, the son's head sometimes buried in the father's shoulder, they stayed in Derek's lane to the end. The crowd clapped, then stood, then cheered, and then wept as the father and son finished the race. (Max Lucado)
What made the father do it? What made the father leave the stands to meet his son on the track? Was it the strength of his child? No, it was the pain of his child.
I can tell you as a mother, seeing my child in pain is heart wrenching. I would agree to take the place of my daughter any day of the week in order to spare her little legs from being injected during our doctor's visits. Seeing her in agony brings an overwhelming feeling of sadness over me.
God feels my pain. He yearns to take the broken pieces of my heart and put it back together. If only I let Him.
Friday, November 28, 2008
We ran to feed the hungry (ok, ok, walked)
We joined 28,000 other participants this year for the 15th annual and largest fundraising event for the Sacramento Food Bank. We plan to make it a holiday tradition. We hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Our little Punkin...
Mommy and Daddy promised to dress up next year.
Daddy couldn't resist my pumpkin pie kisses.
We love the Rodriguez family to pieces.
Our First Annual Apple Hill Visit
Hurray for road trips!
I was enthralled by that funny hair on the head of the cob.
We stopped for some scrumptious apple pie. Yum!
Friday, November 7, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Life with Baby
As some of you may (or may not) have noticed, my blog entries have been sporadic and limited on words. First let me say that never in my wildest dreams did I fathom life with baby could be so consuming on so many levels. My days typically consist of coming up with creative ways to get Ava to sleep longer, eat less often, and find interest in her toys and books. Quite a change from my days as a classroom teacher.
But let me go back to the first weeks with baby. Sleep deprivation can bring one to a state of lunacy. The breastfeeding/newborn fog made it difficult to carry out simple tasks, not to mention carry on an intelligent conversation. I remember a morning in particular in which I could not for the life of me remember what I had eaten, worn or who I had talked to the day before. One of the lowest point that comes to mind was when Justin became sick and "quarantined" himself in the spare bedroom for a few days...unable to spend time or be of any help with Ava. I was running on 4 hours of sleep (tops) in 5 days. I wasn't producing enough milk to meet Ava's high demands. And colicky Ava was going on 2 hours of high-piercing inconsolable sobbing. After a bout of hysterical crying, I dried my tears, put Ava down, took a deep breath and proceeded to bring the vacuum cleaner into the bedroom. I blasted that puppy next to Ava's ear for 3 hours. It worked like a charm (I won't share the cost of our energy bill for that month). I have since resorted to the hair dryer as it's a lot less cumbersome and more energy efficient.
I am happy to say that Ava is no longer colicky and sleeping more, so our challenges are a little different today. She is sleeping in 5-7 hour stretches at night (thank you Jesus)...naps, however, are a different story. The routine goes as follows...rock her to sleep, put her down, she wakes up 10 minutes later. Pick her back up, rock her to sleep, put her down, she wakes up 12 minutes later. Repeat 2 more times. And at last, success. She has now been napping for 30 minutes. Woo hoo! Now if mother nature would just step it up so that I can satisfy this ravenous child after her nap...we'll be in business.
But let me go back to the first weeks with baby. Sleep deprivation can bring one to a state of lunacy. The breastfeeding/newborn fog made it difficult to carry out simple tasks, not to mention carry on an intelligent conversation. I remember a morning in particular in which I could not for the life of me remember what I had eaten, worn or who I had talked to the day before. One of the lowest point that comes to mind was when Justin became sick and "quarantined" himself in the spare bedroom for a few days...unable to spend time or be of any help with Ava. I was running on 4 hours of sleep (tops) in 5 days. I wasn't producing enough milk to meet Ava's high demands. And colicky Ava was going on 2 hours of high-piercing inconsolable sobbing. After a bout of hysterical crying, I dried my tears, put Ava down, took a deep breath and proceeded to bring the vacuum cleaner into the bedroom. I blasted that puppy next to Ava's ear for 3 hours. It worked like a charm (I won't share the cost of our energy bill for that month). I have since resorted to the hair dryer as it's a lot less cumbersome and more energy efficient.
I am happy to say that Ava is no longer colicky and sleeping more, so our challenges are a little different today. She is sleeping in 5-7 hour stretches at night (thank you Jesus)...naps, however, are a different story. The routine goes as follows...rock her to sleep, put her down, she wakes up 10 minutes later. Pick her back up, rock her to sleep, put her down, she wakes up 12 minutes later. Repeat 2 more times. And at last, success. She has now been napping for 30 minutes. Woo hoo! Now if mother nature would just step it up so that I can satisfy this ravenous child after her nap...we'll be in business.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Monday, September 1, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
God's Promises I hold dear to my heart (especially during 3 am feedings)
Don't let anxiety steal your joy:
rather, tell me about your worries
and needs and thank me in advance.
As you pray, you'll find that my
incomparable peace overshadows
all of your problems and insecurities.
Always be content with what you have,
knowing that I'll never leave or abandon you.
I'll supply everything you need, according
to my endless riches in glory.
Faithfully providing,
~Your Prince of Peace
-from Deuteronomy 7:12-13, John 16:33, Philippians 4:6-7, Hebrews 13:5, Philippians 4:19
rather, tell me about your worries
and needs and thank me in advance.
As you pray, you'll find that my
incomparable peace overshadows
all of your problems and insecurities.
Always be content with what you have,
knowing that I'll never leave or abandon you.
I'll supply everything you need, according
to my endless riches in glory.
Faithfully providing,
~Your Prince of Peace
-from Deuteronomy 7:12-13, John 16:33, Philippians 4:6-7, Hebrews 13:5, Philippians 4:19
Friday, August 15, 2008
Being introduced to the bottle makes my new favorite...Feedings with Daddy!
Daddy's feeding me today? Does he really have the equipment?
Not what I had in mind...but I like it!
Yummy!
Burp Time!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Motherhood...No training required but flexibility and patience highly recommended
I have to be honest. Never in my wildest dreams did I fathom (or put forth any thought for that matter)that being a stay-at-home mom would be so challenging. My lack of sympathy towards the "profession" leaves me feeling a little guilty and ashamed. I guess like many others in our society, who have no idea what a "homemaker's" day entails, I assumed that not having a set schedule of working hours meant freedom, lots of time, no sweat kind of day. Preposterous! Raising a child means alarm clocks are no longer necessary. And forget about hitting snooze when your wake up call is an infant's cry. Freedom of choice, forget about it. You are at the mercy of the tiny tyrant that steals your heart every day. Your day has been laid out before you can even say diaper change. Routine? Very Funny. The only routine your day will have are feedings, diaper changes, and singing soothing lullabies. Small projects are carried out in segments. Some may never come to fruition. And this my friends, takes flexibility. Calming the cries of a colicky baby takes patience. There is no way around it. The price of being a mother is sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice. Now do the rewards outweigh the costs? You be the judge...
Endless carefree cuddles and sweet slobber kisses. Silly giggles and tiny arms that squeeze you tight. Lessons on forgiveness, trust, and unconditional acceptance. A new appreciation for the God above. And last but not least, living with the knowledge that all the hard work and effort invested in your child helped to make this world a better, brighter place. As for me, I believe the rewards of being a mother are simply priceless.
Endless carefree cuddles and sweet slobber kisses. Silly giggles and tiny arms that squeeze you tight. Lessons on forgiveness, trust, and unconditional acceptance. A new appreciation for the God above. And last but not least, living with the knowledge that all the hard work and effort invested in your child helped to make this world a better, brighter place. As for me, I believe the rewards of being a mother are simply priceless.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Visiting with Mis Tios
Tio Neneto promised to bring me cousins very soon!
Tio Rober fell in love with me right away
Hiking by the American River
Mommy and Tios enjoying breakfast at the cafe near our house
Yep, I'm their pride and joy!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Who's That Photographer?
We have gotten quite a response to the black and white photo that is shown on our blog. Just to let you know, it was taken by Jackie of JacquelinePhotography.net. She is great to work with and is a talented photographer. Look for more of her work on our blog in the future!
Ava's Birth Story
As promised, here is the story behind the baby :) Enjoy!!
Ava’s birth story begins a few days before her actual birthday, on Wednesday, July 2nd. Ana had her weekly Doctor’s appointment to see how things were moving along. Much to our surprise, the Doctor told us that Ana was dilated to 2cm and Ava had dropped to a pelvic station of zero; which basically means that Ava’s head had dropped and was resting at Ana’s cervix. We thought Wow! That is exciting. I asked our Doctor if she could tell us when Ava would actually arrive. The answer was less exciting, “Could be tomorrow, could be in two weeks.”
So with that we settled into our regular routine of walking every night, doing Ana’s pregnancy work out DVD and hanging out waiting for a twitch. Wednesday afternoon…..nothing. Wednesday night….nada. Thursday morning….wait….contraction time! I came home from work ready to play coach. It was not long before we realized that it was a false alarm. Thursday afternoon….nope. Thursday night…..you guessed it, no contractions.
Friday we decided to take a long walk, go for a bike ride, walk some more. Still nothing. Saturday came, more walking, we bought a desk and put it together. Anything to get this baby moving! Finally by Saturday afternoon Ana decided to go to the gym and lift some weights. (Don’t worry; she had been lifting all pregnancy) Apparently Ava did not like that, because about an hour after Ana got home, around 7pm, the contractions started!
Being that this was our first time at this baby stuff, we still did not know if this was the real thing or not, but just to be on the safe side we proceeded to shower and get ready as if a trip to the hospital was imminent. By 8:30 pm it was obvious Ana was in labor. So we started working together doing breathing exercises, and birth positions while I rubbed her back. By 11pm her contractions were pretty intense. She was sweating profusely and was having trouble talking through the contractions. We decided that the pain was bad enough to go to the hospital.
We took off, Dale Earnhart style. You know: red light….um what red light? We got a baby on the way! After arriving at the hospital in a smokin’ 7 minutes (a law abiding drive from our house is around 20 minutes) I loaded up Ana in a wheelchair; by now I am really concerned. She isn’t saying much, is curled up in a fetal position and drenched in sweat. After a mad dash to the maternity ward, the intake nurse checks Ana and finds that she is fully dilated to 10 centimeters and is at a +2 pelvic station! After checking Ana out, the nurse screams for help, turns to Ana and me and says with urgency, “Honey, whatever you do, try not to push yet; because this baby is coming RIGHT NOW and we still need to call your doctor and get you set up in a delivery room!” With that the nurse rushes Ana into a delivery room. Our doctor showed up in 15 minutes and 5 pushes later at 12:01 am on Sunday, July 6th, Ava was born!
I am thankful for such a wonderful wife. She is strong mentally, physically and spiritually. I am constantly amazed by her! The doctor said that in 30 years of practice she has never had a patient with as much muscle control as Ana. Ana achieved her goal of a natural pregnancy and as a result, she was fully alert and calm after the delivery. According to Ana enduring the pain and working through the cascade of contractions, is empowering and moving. She feels that she can tackle anything after working through the pain and discomfort of delivering a baby.
Ava came into the world in a very peaceful, non-medicated manner. She arrived with her eyes wide open and was very alert. She had a serene, puzzled look on her face and was content to lay on Mommy’s chest and bond. Ava was born a healthy 6 pounds 4 ounces and was 18 ½ inches long.
Ava’s birth story begins a few days before her actual birthday, on Wednesday, July 2nd. Ana had her weekly Doctor’s appointment to see how things were moving along. Much to our surprise, the Doctor told us that Ana was dilated to 2cm and Ava had dropped to a pelvic station of zero; which basically means that Ava’s head had dropped and was resting at Ana’s cervix. We thought Wow! That is exciting. I asked our Doctor if she could tell us when Ava would actually arrive. The answer was less exciting, “Could be tomorrow, could be in two weeks.”
So with that we settled into our regular routine of walking every night, doing Ana’s pregnancy work out DVD and hanging out waiting for a twitch. Wednesday afternoon…..nothing. Wednesday night….nada. Thursday morning….wait….contraction time! I came home from work ready to play coach. It was not long before we realized that it was a false alarm. Thursday afternoon….nope. Thursday night…..you guessed it, no contractions.
Friday we decided to take a long walk, go for a bike ride, walk some more. Still nothing. Saturday came, more walking, we bought a desk and put it together. Anything to get this baby moving! Finally by Saturday afternoon Ana decided to go to the gym and lift some weights. (Don’t worry; she had been lifting all pregnancy) Apparently Ava did not like that, because about an hour after Ana got home, around 7pm, the contractions started!
Being that this was our first time at this baby stuff, we still did not know if this was the real thing or not, but just to be on the safe side we proceeded to shower and get ready as if a trip to the hospital was imminent. By 8:30 pm it was obvious Ana was in labor. So we started working together doing breathing exercises, and birth positions while I rubbed her back. By 11pm her contractions were pretty intense. She was sweating profusely and was having trouble talking through the contractions. We decided that the pain was bad enough to go to the hospital.
We took off, Dale Earnhart style. You know: red light….um what red light? We got a baby on the way! After arriving at the hospital in a smokin’ 7 minutes (a law abiding drive from our house is around 20 minutes) I loaded up Ana in a wheelchair; by now I am really concerned. She isn’t saying much, is curled up in a fetal position and drenched in sweat. After a mad dash to the maternity ward, the intake nurse checks Ana and finds that she is fully dilated to 10 centimeters and is at a +2 pelvic station! After checking Ana out, the nurse screams for help, turns to Ana and me and says with urgency, “Honey, whatever you do, try not to push yet; because this baby is coming RIGHT NOW and we still need to call your doctor and get you set up in a delivery room!” With that the nurse rushes Ana into a delivery room. Our doctor showed up in 15 minutes and 5 pushes later at 12:01 am on Sunday, July 6th, Ava was born!
I am thankful for such a wonderful wife. She is strong mentally, physically and spiritually. I am constantly amazed by her! The doctor said that in 30 years of practice she has never had a patient with as much muscle control as Ana. Ana achieved her goal of a natural pregnancy and as a result, she was fully alert and calm after the delivery. According to Ana enduring the pain and working through the cascade of contractions, is empowering and moving. She feels that she can tackle anything after working through the pain and discomfort of delivering a baby.
Ava came into the world in a very peaceful, non-medicated manner. She arrived with her eyes wide open and was very alert. She had a serene, puzzled look on her face and was content to lay on Mommy’s chest and bond. Ava was born a healthy 6 pounds 4 ounces and was 18 ½ inches long.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
First Visit with my Grandparents!
Abuelito and Grammie
Grandma Mom, Cousins Alexa and Mayson, and Daddy
Papa Tom and Grandma Marce
Saturday, July 12, 2008
More pictures
Hey everyone. Is it ok if we're a little camera crazy? Oh, we're supposed to be? Ok good! You can see more of Ava by clicking on the flickr icon just below our portrait image.
Oh oh, baby's crying, gotta go :)
Oh oh, baby's crying, gotta go :)
Monday, July 7, 2008
Ava has Arrived!
Beloved friends. Ava has graced us with an early arrival. Ana and Ava are doing great. We will post the whole birth story later, but in the meantime we wanted to share some pictures with you!
Thanks for all the love and phone calls. Bear with us, both our cell phone batteries have died and the hospital doesn't allow anything but hospital equipment to be plugged in, we will get back to you as soon as we can!
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