my baby boy - cuz really what else is there :)




 



learning to stand - 6 mo





sweet smile - 7 mo




learning to love hats :) - 7 mo



Do you see what I see?  One cute baby!  I stinkin' love this little boy!

 Dear Evan,

I love you more and more every day.  You are getting to be such a little boy.  You are growing up way too quickly, of course.  It's so fun to watch you learn new things.  You are so smart and innovative.  You don't know how to crawl quite yet, but you do know how to reach for things that are a bit too far away.  You know how to scoot backward.  So instead of getting closer, you get farther away, and that just makes you mad!  You get frustrated when you can't get that item, but you do some pretty funny things in your frustration.  Do you even know how cute and adorable you are in your anger?  :)  You are starting to babble more.  You love to stand propped against our ottoman.  It's so shaky, and you seem so close to falling, but you are so good at catching your balance.  I know it's only a matter of time before you take your first wabbly steps.  You are looking to daddy and I for approval and recognition more often.  You love being praised.  You are figuring out how to put food in your mouth...which leads to more frustration. 

When it comes to food,  you are the most stubborn eater.  You don't pig out like most babies.  You are very tempermental when it comes to eating.  You are keenly aware when daddy and I have a plate of food and let us know immediately that you would like to partake of the yumminess we have brought into the room and your environment.  You'll take a bottle pretty well, but you never finish one.  If I make a 4 ounce bottle, you'll take 3.  If I make a 6 ounce, you'll take 5.  Sometimes, I think if I make an odd number of ounces, you'll finish it.  Isn't that so silly?!  You love all sorts of food; black beans, avocado, chicken, rice puffs, tomatoes, eggs, prunes, bananas, sweet potatoes, mixed veggies, bread.  The list goes on and on, but I can't think of any more right now.  You love all this food, but you won't eat it if it comes from that not-so-magical plastic container.  If the food comes from mama and daddy's plate, you love it.  Why is this?  We probably did something wrong or let you know about the wonders of a dinner plate too soon.  That's ok, though.  You are growing like a weed.  You are healthy, and you are VERY happy.  That makes me feel assured that we are doing the right things, even if we've done things a bit different the cultural norms. 

Speaking of cultural norms, I love breaking them every night when I crawl into my bed, right next to your warm small body.  I love sleeping with you beside me.  I love having you reach out and hold my arm or hand in the middle of the night.  You sleep so well in between daddy and me.  And you keep daddy and I so warm that we don't have to have the heater on.  You don't even know how financially savvy you are :)  If only you would learn to sleep all the way through the night without needing a bottle.  I wish we had a magic answer for that, but I know it will come in time. 

I love walking through this journey with you.  You make me look so good with all you are learning to do.  The fact that you are getting to be such an easy baby is so helpful.  I can't wait for you to start crawling so that you can be a little more independent.  I know that the learning experience takes a while, but I also know that you will be such a happier baby (less frustrated) when you can get to that toy that keeps eluding you.  I can't wait to kick a ball down the hallway and have you chase it.  I can't wait for you to come crawling around the corner into the bathroom when all I want is one second of solitude to do my business. 

And yet, I would be happy if you stayed so beautifully dependent on me just a little while longer.  I love that you need me so often.  I love that you still rely on my to hold your bottle.  I love that you spend so much time in my arms.  I know that I will miss the warmth of your body so close to mine.  Don't let that stop you from growing though.  Mama will adjust, I promise.

I love you that much.

what is it that mom always says?

My mom didn't say this phrase often, but it's a well known phrase:

Don't cry over spilled milk!

Have you ever thought what does it mean exactly?  There's always a moral, right?  Well, lucky us!  We have the internet...from this source:

"The idiom that there is no use crying over spilled milk means that if we make a mistake and something gets broken, it is not helpful to wail in lament, and instead we should simply clean up the mess and get on with it.
This saying comes from the days when dairy animals were milked by hand into a pail. Milk does get spilled occasionally when the pail is tipped over, and then there simply is no getting it back into the pail. Like many other times in life, crying or complaining won't help at all, and it's better not to waste the time or energy and instead just get back to the task at hand"

As I discussed in a previous post, I've had to pump and dump due to some meds I was taking.  I did this one day and started feeding Evan the next day just as the doctor ordered.  Evan was unusually fussy the day I fed him so I decided to pump and dump the rest of the time I was on the meds.  It was a sacrifice I was willing to make in order to keep my son happy (I did miss feeding him terribly, but daddy got a good number of feedings in and loved it!).  I was lucky enough to have a supply built up so that feeding him my milk was possible.  My sister/nanny was so good about pulling enough milk out during the day so that they would thaw by evening.  Evan's tummy has stayed happy and that makes mama happy.

Wednesday I allowed myself to cry (just a little) over milk...my breast milk.   On Wednesday night, I was making Evan a bottle and I accidentally knocked over the bottle with his freshly warmed milk.  5 ounces gone, wasted in seconds!  I've been pumping/dumping about 13 ounces a day and then here's 5 whole ounces of good, fattening, calorie-filled, med-free milk and I just dumped it all over the counter.  I cried and then I smiled because my very next thought was "Well, at least I aimed into the sink and not all over the kitchen floor." 

The moral of this story, if you have to clean up milk with one hand while holding a crying baby in the other, the most you can hope for is not having to get on your hands and knees to clean it.  :)

week at a glance

In order to process through all the things I need to get done this week (and to be able to turn my brain off in order to sleep), I've decided to make a list of what needs to happen on what day.  I know, you all are just DYING to see what I need to do :)

Monday:
*Go to the post office to mail Rolando's packet to Cuba.
*Get a key made for the nanny...that never happened last week...oops!
*Go to Birch (gleaning community) to shop and volunteer

Tuesday:
* i WILL walk to work!
*Research how to make great croquetas and empanadas (of course I promised my hubby those two dinner items for his birthday party....what was I thinking!!?!?)
*Research a good cheap drink...sangria?
*Put the clean clothes away

Wednesday:
* i WILL walk to work!
*Go shopping for all ingredients I need for the party food and drink
*Get decorations (crepe paper rolls and flags?)

Thursday:
*I have to attend a meeting that is outside of my normal 'in office' hours.
*anything of the above that didn't get done because, well, life DOES happen! :)

Friday:
*New mom's group
*Birch for shopping
*Jess's house for cooking and decorating

Saturday:
*Any decorating and cooking I need to do
* PARTY!!!!!!! :)

Phew!  It's going to be a busy week.  All of this is on top of a 40 hour work week!  But I know that this weekend will be SO amazing because of all the hard work I put in. 

Just because:

Okay, I seriously need my energy...off to bed!

10 Day Challenge - Day 5

1. SOUR CREAM!!!!!!  (that's my craving)

 

2. Oatmeal and wheat berries

3. chocolate!! (can't wait to eat it again, I gave it up for lent, props to the pregnant lady...PLEASE!!!!)

 

4.  My husbands Cuban meals (beef+rice+beans+malanga+cilantro=Heaven)

 

5. Baba ghanouj, stuffed grape leaves, tabouli, and homous

poundage

*IT* happened!  I went in for my monthly doctor visit today and I knew it was going to happen, but I still am a little kljaser;aiweur[o  about it.  That's right there aren't words for it just yet.

I did my blood pressure/weigh in with the nurse (super sweet Christian lady).  I saw the scale and FREAKED!!!!!!!!!!  Are you effing kidding me?!??  That's what I weigh?  Are you sure you're doing this thing right?  ACK!!!!!

I jumped 9 pounds this month.  I really wasn't trying hard NOT to add the pounds, but I thought I was being good and making good choices.  Alright so I slacked on the exercise...who doesn't?  So I had Taco Bell that one night...who wouldn't?  So I bought a small thing of Ben & Jerry's....DUH!  I only had one very small piece of cake at Alice's birthday party....just one...I swear!

I really, really wanted to only gain 4-5 pounds this month.  I should have known though, with my genes (haha, I almost put jeans), I would pack on the pounds in double.  There's always next month to work harder at it.  The sad part is, you can't lose weight when pregnant and you can't go back and correct it.  Once the pounds are on, they're on and there's no turning back.  I have to gain another 4-5 pounds this month.  All for the baby (ooo!  he just kicked me! :)

I've put on 17 pounds since becoming pregnant and I told myself I was really going to stick to the 30-35 that the doctor recommends.  YIKES!!  I gotta start really focusing.  It'll be easier when this DARN rainy season is over.  I love walking outside, but can't do it right now.  It'll also be easier when the musical that I'm directing is over.  I won't be so exhausted and will actually make it to the gym 3-4 times a week instead of 1 time a week.  OUCH!!

I know it's not all about the weight you gain.  I know it's healthy for the baby for me to gain weight.  I'm not trying to complain and PLEASE notice that not one single time did I say I was fat or ugly or not cute.  I don't think any of those things (BIG grown-up step for me).  I am proud of the baby bump I have.  I'm doing everything I can to keep this baby happy and healthy inside of me (dude...there's a LIVING being inside of me...still gives me the biggest smile ever!)  This little baby is going be the most amazing boy ever!  I want to be as healthy as possible to have the energy to play and run and laugh and dance.  That means focusing on the poundage :)

I'm going to be an energetic, fun, HOT momma!!!!

feeding the freezer

In anticipation of baby's arrival, I've been pondering what freezer meals I'll want to cook ahead of time.  My great friend Gretchen (you can visit her here), stocked her freezer with meals (with the help of mom and sisters) before baby's arrival and the fantastic idea was embedded in my mind.

Some potential problems I'm trying to wrap my head around:

• Rolando and I live in a small apartment and we definitely don't have a lot of freezer space. 
• We don't have many cassarole dishware.
• Mom and Dad  have a second fridge/freezer combo plus a large deep freezer, but they live 20+ min away.
• My baby will be born in June/July.  Not a very good time for hot, heavy, filling meals.

Some ideas for freezer meals:
Beef strognaoff
chicken, bean, beef enchiladas
chicken parmesian
lasagna
mannitcottis
cookie dough made into cookies (so it's not a meal...I still want it in my freezer!!!)
pulled pork bbq
chicken chili cassarole
Bean/rice/cheese wraps on tortillas (handy for quick lunches)



So, my few followers....
What freezer meals do you and your family enjoy?  Recipes?  What lessons have you learned (what not to freeze)?  Can a momma-to-be hope to purchase tin (disposable) cassarole dishes to freeze and still have high quality meals come from the oven?  Or should we invest in cassarole dishes for the long haul?