3 mo: Cutest Little Turkey

Claire turned 3 months old on November 28th, 2013 

on THANKSGIVING DAY!

Weight: About 13.2 lbs… 

(This is "About" because we didn't have a check up at the doctors this month. 

I weighed myself on the bathroom scale and then weighed me holding her… this was the difference.)

Height: 24.75 inches 

We sure do love this little turkey.She is getting so big… growing out of her 0-3mo. clothes and on to the 3-6mo old stuff.So, weird to think how much bigger she is getting… and so fast.She is still full of smiles. Especially for Dad-O.

I love this picture of Claire… She and her Dad-o were having a little Thanksgiving chat!

She is now wanting to sit up, even though she has to be propped up by pillows.

Love it when she will laugh at us. Doesn't happen all that often but when it does, it is so cute.

She is grabbing at things, and is starting to want to play with toys and such.

Such a fun stage of baby life.

Couldn't have asked for a better thanksgiving!

We are so thankful that this little turkey joined our family this year.

Love you Claire, Claire. 

2 months already and Halloween

Claire turned 2 months old on October 28th, 2013. 

Just a few days before Halloween.

This picture was taken on Halloween day. Claire dressed up as a ballerina. 

Weight: 10 lbs 15.4 oz (50%) 

Height: 24.5 inches (50%)

Head: 39.4 cm (50%)

This was taken just a week before her two month check up.

Doesn't she make a cute little pumpkin.

Claire is all about cooing and smiles right now. We are loving it. 

There is something about that interaction you have that just melts our hearts. If someone else is holding you and you hear mommy or daddy-os voice you start to look for us. 

Clare, you love to "talk" and slobber. I could listen to you coo and squeak all day. It is adorable.

If mommy or daddy-o talk to you we can almost always get a big fat smile out of you. 

Still a good eater, and sleeper. Seems like you are eating non stop sometimes, we are still nursing, but also do a bottle from time to time… since my milk doesn't seem to fill you up. There is no question when you are hungry you let us know, it is really the only time you cry. You have always been a good sleeper, pretty much from day one. You sleep really well during the night, usually from 10:30 or 11:00 pm until 6:30 am. I am so glad you like to sleep, because I like it too. You also take good naps in your little bouncer during the day while I work. You also LOVE to be cuddled. Sometimes you are sleepy, but just can fall asleep for a little nap… so we scoop you up and cuddle you tight it is just minutes before you are snoozing away. Often I see that you are smiling during your naps, It makes me wonder what you are dreaming about.

Now that you are a little older we have been going out and about just a little. We make sure that you are fed before we leave the house, and try not to be gone too long. You love the car, and don't really like it when we have to stop for a light or stop sign. Our first full sunday back at church you were loved by our sweet little primary class, and you were a trooper to let them all peak and poke at you. Since it's just Mom and Dad at home you aren't quite sure when we take you to a place where there are lots of people. I think you like our quite little home. 

We are sure in love with you little c.

Little C's Stats: birth to one month!

I can't believe how quick the last month has gone...

Little C is already 

one month old!

She seems pretty happy about it.

This picture was taken literally minutes after the one month mark. (Sept. 30th 9:24 pm)

Here are her one month stats:

Weight: 9 lbs 0.4 oz (50%) 

(almost the same as at birth)

Height: 22.5 inches (90%)

Head: 38 cm (75%)

She is getting more and more active everyday. She has a big happy smile, and loves to show it to us after eating usually. Dad can usually get one out of her in the evening. 

Doctor says she needs to be gaining a little more weight, so we are adding some formula during the day. She eats really good, so we were a little surprised by that, but she does prefer sleep over eating. 

♥ ♥ ♥

These were her stats at 2 weeks:

Picture taken at two weeks... also this was her birth announcement.

at  2 weeks:

Weight: 8 lbs 10 oz (75%) 

Height: 21.25 inches (75%)

Head: 37.5 cm (90%)

♥ ♥ ♥

and for fun... this picture was take at day 2 at the hospital.

The hospital has a photographer come around... this was one of the pictures.
Such chubby little cheeks.

She looks so different now. 

They change so fast.
This dress was made by Grandma Marcano...
still a little big, but we thought it would be fun to have her picture taken in it. 

at  birth:

Weight: 9 lbs 4 oz (75%) 

Height: 21 inches (75%)

Welcome to the World...

I have to say that I feel lucky and very blessed because I had a really good easy going pregnancy. I must say that the last 4 weeks were really hard, and I was so ready to be done being pregnant!!!

After two false alarms and going to the hospital and returning home after a hour or so... I was happy to return on August 28th for a scheduled induction. I was hoping Baby C would come on her own... but she was happy just hanging out right where she'd been for the last 41 weeks.

Here is "the story" of how it all went... (FYI... it's LONG! Feel free to just look at the pics.)

August 28th just before 8 am, I called the hospital to see when they wanted me to come in. I thought that they would have called me much earlier but I guess they had a busy night. So they told me to come about 9 am. So, we got ready and I ate a very light breakfast; a banana and a glass of milk. Once we were all set to go we all got into the car and drove to the hospital. (Cruz's Parents were in town just for this occasion... and they came with us.) We got checked in, and they said it would be a little before they could get me going, but to change into the hospital gown etc... and get ready. So I did. About 10 am I was hooked up and waiting for the pitocin to do it's thing.

Not long after I was starting to feel the contractions. Ouch. I was dilated when I arrived at the hospital to a 3+ and by lunch I was at a 5. Cruz and his parents had lunch; Cafe Rio. Drool, it smelled so good.  I wanted a bite, but I wasn't allowed to eat real food. I had a popsicle, and some broth. I had decided to get an epidural. I was super nervous about it, because my SIL had permanent nerve damage from hers. The anesthesiologist came in, and introduced himself and got to work. Right as he was putting the needle in his phone range, and it was this ghost sounding ring tone... very halloween... and it totally creeped me out... and made me think "Oh, no what is that sound... does it mean he messed it up?" LOL. He'd told me "Sorry, that is my phone" but somehow I missed the ghost sound was the phone. Now, it sounds funny... but at the time it made me even more nervous.

Once the epidural was going life was good. WOW! I hadn't felt that good for at least a month. I had no pain, and was feeling great. And that is pretty much how the entire rest of the day went... the doctor would come check to see how my progress was going... and we were moving along quite well, until about 6 pm to 9 pm and we hit a road block. The baby was trying to make it's way out... but my hips were not opening large enough for her. So, since I was past the maximum amount of pitocin level they said that we needed to have a C-Section. I knew that this was something that they were considering since the baby in the last few weeks of pregnancy had been measuring quite large, and yet wasn't engaging for labor. I felt fine about having a c-section, and knew if it was best for the baby then it was the thing to do. Though I did feel a little sad, and wasn't really looking forward to the recovery part... but such was life.

We texted all my family, and just like that I was in the operating room ready to have my baby. Seriously, it all happened so fast. It was crazy. I was already numb, and they gave me some other meds and I was set to go. Cruz was right there at my side, well... my head actually. ;) Once he got in the room it was just minutes until we heard our sweet baby Claire cry for the 1st time. What a great set of lungs she has. That cry was so amazing, and made me cry right along with her. I wanted to see her so much! Cruz went with the baby and they got me all sewed up... which felt like it took forever. They did hold the baby near me so I could see, but all I wanted to do was hold her...

Then they wheeled me back to my room, and I got to hold Claire for the first time. 9 pounds and 4 ounces of pure joy, happiness and complete LOVE. She was so cute, and chubby. She had cubby cheeks and on the top of head she had hair, but she also has these few really long hairs and they kind of stuck up like tweety-birds hair, she was here... our baby! I got to feed her right away, and she was a good little eater. It was a perfect ending to a long day, It was amazing to see her and hold her... really there are no words to describe it.

They then took us to a different room for the night. The ride to the room was kind of like bumper cars. I think we hit all doorways and anything else we could... not too fun after a c-section. Once in our room we did as we were instructed hurry and order some dinner before the kitchen is closed. 

Once our food came, I found out that they didn't want me to eat yet. :( Sad news for me, since I was hungry and had a hot tray of food next to me. They said that it could make me sick, so they brought me a red jello. I must say jello never tasted so good. 

It was mid-night, and we got all settled and then we went to bed.

I couldn't sleep, odd because I was so exhausted. 

Both baby and Cruz were fast asleep. I could not be happier.

♥ ♥ ♥ 

The next day my parents came to visit, they were able to stay for a week.

We were so happy to have them come.

It was my Mom's birthday. (Thursday, Aug. 29th) 

Happy birthday to you... here is a new granddaughter for your birthday gift.

(Don't expect a gift like that every year.)

It was so nice to have my parents down. I missed my family. Thankful for all of the well wishes via text, phone, and Facebook. We felt love from all over the world actually!

We were told that we could go home from the hospital on Friday, Aug 30th.

Sounded lovely to me. As long as the doctor said everything was good, I could plan to go.

We had a wonderful hospital stay. The labor and delivery nurses and staff were all wonderful.

We had no complaints except for the lactation specialist, she was annoying. Plus she fell on top of my stomach, while holding baby Claire. For some reason even though it hurt when she fell, I really only had a mad feeling towards her, and just wanted her to get out of my room and never come back. 

She said "I am so sorry, I am going to feel bad about this all day."

to which I thought to myself... "YOU, are going to feel bad all day... uh, I am the one you fell on; I WILL BE THE ONE HURTING extra because of it... not you. Plus you fell while holding my newborn baby... she could have got hurt..." I wanted to just say "GET OUT OF HERE" because after we got reconfigured, she wanted to continue to help me nurse Claire. She finally noticed that I was in pain, and asked... "Oh, did you have a C-section?" UH, YES!!... and you just smashed me. I guess this anger feeling was partly due to all the hormones, but wow... I was really mad at her. 

Anyway... all of that lead to lots of visits from hospital people, making sure I was really ok. The doctor said I was ok, I could have had some bruising because of it... but we didn't notice any in the following days. They gave me my pain meds a half hour early, and before we went home we had visits from nurses, doctors, and even upper management. I guess they were just making sure we were not going to take legal action or something. I just wanted to go home by that point. Though they did give us some nice freebees to take home with us after that. The rest of the hospital stay was really a blur. I just loved holding my little baby girl, and that was really all I cared about. 

Friday, came and I finally got to take a little shower. It seriously never felt so good. 

Not long after that Cruz got the car, and we went on our way...

baby c in the carseat, she looked so tiny... and off to our home.

It felt so good to be home.

It was our 5th wedding anniversary!

Love you husband-o.

Thanks for making a beautiful baby with me. 

Love you more than ever.

The next few days, Cruz was such a huge help. A whole new part of our relationship...

we are a Mom and Dad now. (Crazy!)

Baby Claire, we are madly in love with you.

You are a good little sleeper, and most of the time you are a good eater...

if we let you get cranky before we feed you it's a lot harder... so we try to make sure we get you eating before you have a melt down. You almost always fall asleep while eating, and we have to keep waking you up. While you are a "BIG" baby, you still wear newborn clothes, and diapers even at 3 weeks old. We put socks on you every time we look at you because you kick them off after about 10 seconds. You have beautiful little eyes, and your daddy can not wait to see what color they are. So far they are looking brown but sometimes they do look greenish. In the sunlight you have some copper tones in your hair, and both grandparents say hints of red.

We adore every inch of you. We are excited for every moment... and are so happy to be your parents.

Love you baby c.

July 2013: My Parents visit STG

We had been trying to plan a good time for my Parents to come and visit St. George all spring... 

Well, they made it in the middle of the heat of the summer. We were so glad they came, and actually they brought some cooler temperatures with them. We showed them the sights of St. George... Dixie Rock, Tabernacle, Temple... all the main things!

The temple looked fantastic with the clouds that were rolling in.

My Dad wanted to visit Pine Valley. I had never even heard of Pine Valley. What a beautiful little, little town. Plus since the elevation is a lot higher, the temps were awesome to be walking around and seeing the sights. 

We got to see the Pine Valley Chapel, which was built in 1868, and is constructed like a upside down ship. Built by a past ship builder. ;) Good little history lesson by visiting there.

Randomly it was PINE VALLEY DAYS while we were there.

They had a little festival set up in the town square. Where the locals were doing musical programs, and selling handmade crafts.

I think this is the only restaurant in the town... but it was delicious!

We also to a little journey to the lake. What a beautiful place. We need to come back and do a little hike, and maybe a picnic at the lake... so pretty.

 Of course we had to visit Zion's National Park. Always beautiful.

Good times with the parents!

So glad they could come before the baby gets here... so we could show them around.

They enjoyed the pool and hot tub. ;)

Next time they visit will be when the baby comes.

Hopefully will be soon. Baby's due date is tomorrow (Aug. 21st). But according to my Dr. Apt. today doesn't look like she is ready to get out anytime soon. 

July 2013: Wolf Creek Weekend with the Family

 There is something great about all being in the same place at the same time! Lisa planned a fantastic get-a-way for our family. I was impressed with the location, cool weather, swimming, and plenty of room for the entire family. Wolf Creek was a success for sure.

 Lots of time to just chill... and spend time with everyone. 

JJ learned how to eat whip-cream from a can straight into his mouth... thanks to Aunt Brenda and Cousin Tyler. He wasn't too sure at first... but oh, man it only took one lick and he was hooked.

Also, JJ and David loved paper airplanes being tossed up into the loft... good times.

 So, so, so glad there was a pool. Being 8 mo. preggo there are few things to enjoy doing. But the pool was a hit for me and for all the kids too. Actually I am pretty sure everyone like it. No fear with these nieces and nephews... jump right in.

 Trying to find a little something fun to do... took us to Golden Spike National Park. A little bit of a drive, but it was fun to see the trains, and again the kid-os sure liked it.

FUN and more FUN! Good laughs, and good food, good company.

Sadly I didn't take many photos. And what I did was with my phone. I am getting bad at that.

We also celebrated Kevin's 18th birthday while we were there. (Which he wasn't photographed by me at all.) Fun to have Justine join us... welcome to the family. ;)

What else... hum... so many good times. 

David (3 yrs old) told us all about Wonder Woman and her nice boobs. LOL... that was hilarious.

Emma girl (3 yrs old) was up for the pool at anytime even though she wasn't feeling that great.

JJ was his usual self FULL of ENERGY... if I could bottle that up and take for myself... WOW!

Candace and Tyler cooked some delicious pizza cups, I was impressed. Ty said they learned how in Foods class. ;)

Games with the siblings in the evening... We played Uno LISA style. Tricky business.

Alan and Joe did bike rides, Cruz did a long run/walk to the lake one morning.... And me... I just tried to relax and be as comfy as a 8 mo prego lady can be.

For Cruz and I it was a lot of driving, 767 miles! But it was worth each one.

I like this yearly family get-a-way... can't wait for next year when we have a almost 1 yr. old. 

Adventures for sure!

Can it be true... August is tomorrow? (FREE Subway Art Printable}

I really have been excited to welcome the month of August since... well, last Christmas. Why? Because our sweet little baby is due this month. Actually, today marks 37 weeks; which is full term... even though her due date isn't until the 21st. it is fun and exciting to think she can come at anytime now. :)

Yippie, for AUGUST!!!

Here are the Subway printables I have made for AUGUST.

The 1st one is kind of made just for me... and matches what I think of August.

We have no kids in school, so the back-to-school theme doesn't really apply for now. 

We do have several birthday's in August and we are welcoming our baby into the world... plus it's our 5th year anniversary at the very end of the month... so lots going on. 

 But for the rest of the world who have kids in school, 

here is a more traditional 

AUGUST SUBWAY ART!!!

Download here.

Venezuelan Independence Day!

July 5th is Venezuelan Independence day. 

Since we just celebrated USA's Independence day it's easy to just keep on celebrating.

After Cruz got home from work we went to the pool for a little while. Feels so good and refreshing.

(Which is also why I don't have any make-up on these pics. lol.)

Then decided to have a little Venezuelan flair to our dinner. We debated on driving to a Venezuelan restaurant in Vegas, but then decided not too. Maybe we should have... 

Instead we ran to the store and got a few things...

This year, we tried making our own Guasaacaca Sauce.

What is Gusaacaca Sauce?

It is this SUPER yummy avocado, cilantro, parsley sauce that is creamy and delicious. It's not like guacamole at all... (even though I love guacamole too.) In Venezuela they eat it with Arepas, empanadas, chicken etc...

This is our second attempt with a recipe I found online. Not quite right... but it was fun to try. ;) The recipe called for Worcestershire Sauce... and it kind of took over the taste. Cruz thought if we just left that out we would be right on track. 

We also made Arepas filled with chicken salad. 

I have only been to Venezuela once. We had such a fun time there. I got to meet Cruz's family and see where he is from. It's always fun to bring a little bit of Venezuela into our home in whatever way we can. I sure do love this Venezuelan man of mine!

Happy 4th of July

We had such a great 4th of July! I loved the entire day.

Cruz woke up at something like 4:45 am, he couldn't go back to sleep, ... and so he made breakfast. I had some and then went back to bed, he then went for a long walk/run before it got too hot.
Later we went to the pool and stayed for several hours. Randomly we had it to ourselves for most of the time. It was so relaxing to me, to just float around in the cool water. So refreshing because it was so HOT outside. Cruz said it well... God bless America, and God bless having a pool in St. George...

After the pool we had lunch at Dickies BBQ. Then went and met up with Joe and Brenda for a bit, as they were on their way home from California and passing by. Which was fun to see some family since it was a holiday and all. I do miss being able to go to all the family stuff... Candace sent me the pic of the little kid-os playing in the kiddie pool at the family breakfast. Looked like they were having fun. :)

After that we came home and just relaxed, I had a good nap! Then made Red, White and Blue drinks. They sort of worked out... :)

Later that night we enjoyed the fireworks!

Every year I think... I need to learn how to take better firework photos. Until next year!!

We decided to just watch the fireworks from afar. Actually it was really cool, we could see lots of firework shows happening all around St. George. I put my camera away right as the big ending happened downtown St. George... and missed what would have been the best picture opportunity; but enjoyed it all the same. 

Loved, loved having time with me and just my handsome husband-o.

We just relaxed and embraced the day as it came. 

It was perfect.

No stress, no worries... just fun.

So, thankful to live in such a fantastic place... we are blessed!

Cruz's GOLDEN birthday! 30!!

My handsome husband-o turned the big 3-0! 

It was his GOLDEN birthday, 30 on the thirtieth of June.

What did he want to do for his birthday? 

Travel.

I know, big surprise. He loves to get away.

So, we did a quick little trip to California!

Before we left, on Friday I had a little surprise for him... a bunch of GOLDEN treats.

Worked out perfect so we could take them on our little road trip. ;)

I was surprised at how many GOLDEN treats you could find. 

This was just a few. There were lots of things with GOLDEN apple, but Cruz isn't a apple fan. They had GOLDEN gummy bears, which he hates gummy or sticky candy of any kind. 

I had to think "would he like this treat?" For the most part he did. He really liked the pretzels they were honey wheat. Yum!

Our destination was NEWPORT beach California.

WOW! it was so busy! We enjoyed it the best we could... but had a really hard time finding any parking. We finally found something, had time to walk the beach a little and grab some dinner... then our parking meter was out of money... so we decided to go do something else... and enjoy the beach area in the morning.

Our friend suggested SPRINKLES for a yummy treat.

Got to have lots of birthday treats...right?

Well... we got in line, and chatted it up with the guy behind us. Who gave us good ideas for the next day. (Locals know the best places anyway.) We enjoyed the sprinkles sundae. Which is a cupcake cut in half and in the middle is a scoop of ice cream. 

Delicious. 

More sights of Newport!

Next stop was CRYSTAL COVE.

This was the place the guy had recommended we spend at the beach.

The parking was way better, and it made it so much less crazy.

We just soaked up the sun, and relaxed on the beach all afternoon.

For lunch we went up the road to Ruby's Shake Shack... which overlooks Crystal Cove.

We had a turkey sandwich, burger and Cruz got a milk shake.

I must have been super thirsty cause I drank two cups of water. The food was good, but the view and the cool breeze was awesome. We were not missing the 112 degree weather in St. George.

I loved these red flower bushes. 

and... our last stop was Laguna Beach before we headed home.

Had a great time. Love that California is so much closer to us than ever before.

Guess we will have to go more often.

It wouldn't be Cruz's Birthday if we didn't spend a little time in Vegas.

My only request was that we didn't spend much time walking the strip... it was 115+ outside... and being pregnant it would have been just too hot.

SO, we stopped for a quick look at the Bellagio to see the flowers...

then went to the cheese cake factory for a little bit of food.

We shared the avocado egg rolls. It's Cruz's favorite.

Then had some delicious dessert at Jean Philippe Patisserie.

The crepe was super delicious! A perfect way to end your birthday, don't you think?

Happy GOLDEN Birthday Cruz Armando!

Love you!!

JULY!! ★★★ (SUBWAY ART)

I LOVE ★ JULY ★ !!!!
I know it's HOT outside, but this summer fun filled month is one of my favorites. I love that we celebrate our country. I love that it gives us time to think about the blessings of living in a free country!

At our house we not only celebrate the 4th of July for America, but we also celebrate the 5th of July for Venezuela's independence day. Double celebration since the husband is from Venezuela. :) Which usually involves eating some yummy Venezuelan food... so you really can't go wrong. 

For the 4th my family has breakfast in the backyard picnic style... as kids we often went to see the hot air balloons at the crack of dawn. This year we will be in STG again... so we will have to come up with our own celebration. 

Download your printable JULY subway art here.

In Utah, we also have pioneer day to celebrate. 

Holiday LOVE!

SO... Celebrate however you do and ENJOY it!

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Excited for you to be a POP! & BABY SHOWERS

What to do while you wait at the Dr's office.... Blog I guess.
Yesterday the weekend plans we had went out the window... So we had to change things up. And... So I decided to give Cruz his Father's Day treat a little early; because I will be in Orem on Sunday and he will be in St. George.

I had this on the kitchen table as a little treat for his pre-father's day gift. Love you Cruz Armando and I really am excited for us to become PARENTS!!

When I got to Orem, it was fun to celebrate with my family a big happy Father's day to my DAD.
We had a backyard breakfast for dinner party. Where we got fed well, shared a few presents, and had a great time with our family. (No, pictures... what is wrong with me.)


So, why was I in OREM?
Well, a few reasons... baby showers, working etc...
I was seriously so blessed to have TWO wonderful showers... and a lunch with the girls from work!
I only have pictures from ONE!

 My cute friend Suzie and Becky along with Suzie's Mom Laurel and Sister Ashley put together this adorable shower for my home ward and friends. It was all decorated and fancy... I loved it. The comment was made that they brought pinterest to life! ;) I would agree! We had so much fun, and it was really awesome to see so many friends who I grew up with.

Thanks for a awesome shower! I loved it.

Glad we snapped this pic... everyone say instagram!

We have literally been friends the longest of all my lovely friends.

You could also add our friend Melissa into this mix. Glad we can still get together once and awhile and pick up where we left off. 

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

 My sweet sites-in-laws Nichole and Lisa went to town on a shower for my family and friends. They really went over and beyond. It was SO, SO, SO fun to see all those who came. A lot of people I wish I could see more often.

Also, my parents gave me this adorable pack-and-play crib... it's super fancy with a changing station and a little vibrating sleepy place for when the baby is really small. We are going to use this in our room while Cruz's parents are here. It's going to be a lifesaver. PLUS, a nice thing to have for traveling to grandma's and grandpa's house in Orem. ;) Thanks Mom and Dad.

I had a car full of wonderful baby things for Claire.

Can't wait to see her wear all of those adorable outfits!

Until the end of August, I will just have to wait.

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

June Subway Art {free printable}

How is it that June is just around the corner? WOW, 2013 is going by so fast!

I have been creating subway art for awhile now... doing one for each month. I planned on finishing them all last year... but then we decided to MOVE and my life got a little crazy between work and relocating my life, I didn't finish very many. :) Crazy to think that was a year ago. Happy to be where we are now! 

We are loving the warm and sometimes just hot weather, that makes a great time to visit the pool, and let's be honest get an ice cream. YUM!

In St. George it warms up fast, and it usually stays that way until October. :) 

I hope that I love the rest of the summer as much as I have been thus far... being pregnant with baby due end of August, I hope it can fly by. Getting really excited to hold that baby of mine in my arms.

For now... I am just loving the happiness of SUMMER!

Download June Subway Art here.

For our house.... since my husband has a birthday in JUNE, I also did one that says HAPPY BIRTHDAY at the end. So, if you too have a birthday in JUNE you may want this one below.

Download June Subway Art with happy b-day here.

All Subway Art can be found HERE.