Mom, This Toy is Cool

Luca got a new toy. Can you tell he likes it? It's so neat to watch him start to explore his surroundings. Just this week he really started gripping things and picking them up to get a closer look...or a taste in most cases.

Hmmm...wonder what this tastes like?

delirious rhapsody: fall fashion week: day one!

Check out the fall fashion post from one of my favorite blogs. I am so insanely jealous of everyone busting out their cute fall wardrobes. I am still stuck in sweats and nursing tops. I am dying to go shopping. I am feeling the need find a new style to fit my new role as mommy. Hopefully before I go back to work I can find some time to freshen up my look.

delirious rhapsody: fall fashion week: day one!: This week you're all going to have to put up with TWO post from me. Every.Single.Day. (At least that's the goal.) My regularly scheduled pr...

BLW: Baby Led Weaning...Share Your Thoughts!

Anyone do baby led weaning? Ok, for those of you that were as clueless as I was, here is blog with some good information:



I have been hearing a lot about baby led weaning, and I am interested in giving it a shot when Luca is ready for solids. We are trying to hold out until 6 months and I am hoping he will remain exclusively breastfed until then. Santi and I are very adventurous eaters. We love to cook, and we enjoy all kinds of different foods. We want our children to eat a variety of foods as well, and we want to avoid the picky eater syndrome if at all possible. I am also weary of introducing bland foods like rice cereal that don't really have any nutritional value. I think if you start babies with very bland foods, they won't grow to like a variety of different foods. I think this whole baby led weaning thing might be the way to go. My only thinking is that when he is in daycare he may have some spoon fed meals, but his daycare provider is awesome and I am sure she will be more than willing to follow our wishes with what Luca eats. She actually makes homemade breakfasts and lunches for the kids, so I am thinking it shouldn't be an issue. It doesn't have to be an "all or nothing" experience, so I am okay with some spoon fed meals here and there, particularly with foods that don't fit well into the "finger food" category. I am going to keep researching this, and if you have any insights or advice I would love to hear it!

Weight Loss Update: 5 Days Out of 30...DONE!

I posted a week or two ago about losing the baby weight. Last week I started the 30 Day Shred.

I have always been a Jillian Michaels fan thanks to my Biggest Loser addiction (new season starts soon!). I have always wanted to try her 30 Day Shred, and after I got the go ahead from my doctor at my post partum visit I was excited to get going! I have been motivated to lose the last 20lbs I am hanging onto...well, actually I am only about 15lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight but I would like to push myself to go a bit further since I was a little on the chubbier side before I got pregnant. So, last week I squeezed in 4 days of The 30 Day Shred, and I am proud of that because last week was rough with Luca being so fussy. I weighed in last Monday at 139.6, and today at 138.4....down a little over a pound! I would say that is a decent start. I am going to shoot for getting in at least 5 days of exercise this week and today's workout is done! I will do mostly 30 Day Shred, but I would like to try for a jog since my ultimate goal is to get back into running. I will admit though, I have not been that great with my eating because breastfeeding makes me famished all. the. time. I am going to keep trying though! I am going to keep you all posted on my progress with the 30 Day Shred!

Laughs!

I should have posted this earlier, but I am just now recovering from last week. Luca had his two month shots the week before, and that was followed by an entire week of fussiness. I hate when my little man is fussy and I don't know how to soothe him. Thankfully by Friday night he was back to his normal happy self, and we even captured some of his first laughs on video! He started laughing the week prior...but we were never able to capture it. He usually gets the giggles sitting on dad's lap in the evening listening to dad make funny noises. I have even caught him giggling at Tevez a couple of times. It's just the most adorable thing in the world. 

Dear Luca

Dear Luca,
I am not sure why you have been so darn cranky the past few days. Are you growing? Not getting enough to eat? Could it be the weather? Are you too cold or too hot? Perhaps you are gassy? Whatever it is, mommy has no idea how to make it better, and it's very frustrating. Listening to you scream for a good portion of the day is exhausting, but I love you no matter what. I only want to soothe you, and it's so very heartbreaking when I can't. You don't want to swing, or hang out with me in the Moby. You don't like to be snuggled (tear), and you don't want to play. You eat and eat, but you're still not content. So little one, if you could just speak up and be clear about what it is exactly that you need, I would be more than happy to oblige and we would all feel better.

Love,
Momma

First time in the Bumbo!

My eventual goal for this blog is to have it printed into a keepsake book for Luca that includes all the posts from my pregnancy and his first year. I didn't post as often as I would have liked during my pregnancy, and I didn't get in one last belly pic in the Halloween shirt before I went into labor (let's face it, by the time I realized I was in labor I wasn't thinking about taking pictures), but I am going to try very hard to keep the blog updated with all of his "firsts". At 2 months old he hasn't had too many "firsts" just yet, but I know many of them are just around the corner and I can hardly wait! Yesterday on a whim I decided to get out the Bumbo just to see if he would be able to sit in it yet. It claims it's for babies 8 weeks and up. I was doubtful that his head control was good enough to sit up in it, but I gave it a try anyways...and viola! My little boy was sitting up straight...and he didn't look so little anymore. It is just amazing how quickly the tiny little newborn we brought home from the hospital has changed. He is developing a personality, smiling, cooing, and now becoming more and more steady supporting himself. I love how his arm hangs over the side.

7 More Weeks...

I cannot believe I only have 7 more weeks until I have to go back to work. Although I am absolutely dreading it, I am blessed to have been able to stay home with my little man this long. As much as I hate to leave him anywhere, with anyone, I am thankful that God has provided a caretaker for Luca that I feel comfortable with and that I know will take good care of him and give him lots of love and attention when I can't be there. Since he was born in the middle of summer vacation, I basically got an extra month of maternity leave for "free". He will be 4 months old when I go back to work, and he will only have to be in daycare for a total of 5 months this whole school year, so that's another thing I have to be thankful for, but it's still hard to think about leaving my precious child all day and being away from him. Being a working mom is something I have struggled with for a long time. When Santi and I were first married we agreed that children would wait until we had both finished our education, had established ourselves in our careers, and saved up some money so that I could stay at home. I never wanted to be in a position where my children would have to go to childcare. As much as I love my career, I wanted to spend every second possible with my children. We worked very hard, both of us going to school and working full time. It wasn't easy, but we did it and we sacrificed. We knew it was important for us to be able to support a family. Unfortunately by the time Santi finished his bachelor's and I finished my master's the economy was in shambles. Our mortgage was upside down on our first home (like so many others) and Santi was having a hard time finding a better position. By that time we had been married almost three years, and we were really longing to start our family. We took a leap of faith and hoped that God would provide a way for me to stay home, even though it wasn't possible at the time. After struggling over a year to start our family (also not what we had expected), we welcomed Luca, and I was still holding out hope that somehow I would be able to stay home. Since I found out I was pregnant, I have been crunching numbers and cutting back to try to make things work. Now, with my return date looming I know that it is not in God's plans for me to stay home with Luca at this time, and I have to trust His decision. Maybe He wants me back at work because He knows the work that I am doing and the lives I am impacting in my career as a teacher. Or maybe he just wants to test my faith yet again, and in His time the right opportunity will come along for me to stay home. I feel His whisper at times telling me that I will be able to stay home with Luca, and He will provide all we need, but I have to be patient. All I can do for now is trust Him with our finances, remain faithful with the tithe, and pray that he will bless us for our hard work. Sure it's frustrating to know how hard Santi and I both work, and yet we are still unable to afford for me to stay home. It's frustrating knowing that we aren't living lavish lifestyles, and yet the bills are still barely paid each month. It's frustrating knowing that we both went to school for a long time, and borrowed a lot of money, and we may never see a return on our investment. I have to believe that it's all a part of His plan, and honestly we are truly blessed. I know money doesn't buy happiness...but it's hard to say that when money is what would allow me to stay home with my child.

Food!!!!

I have a couple new recipes to post with photos. Part of my 101 in 1,001 (see tab on top of blog) was to try 20 new recipes. Well, over the last year or so I have developed a real love for cooking and I have since surpassed my original goal of trying 20 new recipes. I have posted a few here on our blog in the past, and I have a couple new favorites to share. I just love sharing recipes, and I love when others share them with me! Feel free to link to your favorites:)

I will admit my pictures aren't great because my kitchen doesn't have the best lighting for photos, but you get the idea.
Both recipes come from one of my all time favorite food blogs: Gina's Skinny Taste

The first one just looked like fun. Meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potato "frosting". This would be a great meal for kids. It even has hidden veggies. They were DELISH!
Here's the recipe: Meatloaf Cupcakes
And here is a picture of mine:

 I love Asian food, especially Japanese. I really love all the Asian flavors like ginger, soy sauce, and sesame oil. This recipe has it all! I served these Asian turkey meatballs over rice with some edamame on the side. YUM!

You can find it here: Asian Turkey Meatballs with Lime Sesame Dipping Sauce

And finally, not a recipe but it is food...Santi located a new Ecuadorian grocery here in Phoenix! It's right by his office, so he stopped by after work the other day to check it out. After chatting with some fellow Ecuadorians he picked up some goodies for us. These are some of my fave foods from Ecuador.

I pink puffy heart Fiora Vanti...there is no soda like this in the U.S. It's kind of like Fanta but waaaaaay better! Can't wait to go with Luca for some Ecuadorian ceviche and mote sucio (google it)!

Two Months!

Yesterday our precious little boy turned 2 months old! They say children grow up way too fast, but that's an understatement. After the long road we walked to get him here, it's hard to believe he is already two months old. It seems like in the blink of an eye we went from mourning the losses of our other pregnancies and wondering when we would ever be blessed with our own child, to ooing and awing over this absolutely perfect little guy. He is so full of smiles and coos, and he so happy and content all the time. Even though I was a little sad to pack up  the newborn clothes this past weekend, I am excited to watch him continue to grow and change. Oh, did I mention he has slept through the night three nights now? Yeah, that's right. Momma is feeling pretty good with all the extra sleep:)