Gabriella update

Well, reality is setting in: our baby is turning into a little girl right before our very eyes!!!!!  Here's the progression from month to month, minus month one and month three that I actually did an update for:

Thankfully, the other months and milestones are recorded in a good ole fashioned baby book.  I used to love to look at my baby book as a kid.  Thanks Mom!

Yep, Gabriella, you'll have to crack open an actual book to find out about the rest of your first year of life. 

As for right now, this little one isn't wasting any time living life to the fullest.  She wakes up ready to go and keeps on going and going and going.  If she's gonna do something, she's all in.  She plays hard, sleeps well, eats like a champ, talks/sings/laughs loudly, cries/whines louder, snuggles oh so snuggly, and leaves a large trail of toys, books, cheerios, etc. behind her wherever she goes.  She is always on the go (like her Mama) and rather vocal (like her Dada).  

Our little Boopity Boo, Boo Gooks, Silly Monkey, Goola Goo, Little Love, Sweet Pea, (new names forever being added) does know and respond to her real name.  We throw it in the mix every now and then.  =) She can say Mama, more like Mum-ma or Mum (an Aussie in Gap today confirmed she sounded rather Australian) and Dada (mostly DA!!).  

We've also heard Papa, a word that ends in "pa" for Grandpa, "dih-dih" for doggie, "Ma" for Grandma, "Na" and "Ma" for Nana, and a lot of "Baaaaah" for anything else she points to.  Oh and a word for butterfly.  Really?? It's three syllables and ends in "fwy".  A friend that was over heard it and I heard it again yesterday.  She does have a butterfly above her bed in her room so maybe so.  

She loves: 

-pointing to doggies and photos of Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, Papa, and doggies.  

-cruising around the sofa, coffee table, and her crib

-being chased down the hall

-eating bananas, watermelon, pot roast, cheesy toast, avocados, scrambled eggs, blueberries, cheerios/puffs, peaches, grapes, and cantaloupe

-sneaking into Mama's wallet and pulling out all of the cards

-pulling Dada's glasses off his face

-exploring (diaper bags, piles of laundry, magazines--or paper of any kind)

-putting things in her purse

-pressing buttons

-trying to get into the refrigerator before Mama closes the door

-talking on the phone 

-playing peek-a-boo

-pots, pans, spoons, measuring cups

-sharing food (but most of the time: just kidding--she eats it herself)

-swinging at the park

-clapping 

-brushing her teeth

-silly faces

-tickles on her tummy, feet and neck

-snuggling (once her energy is out for the day)

-books (current favs: Doggies, Very Hungry Caterpillar, First Words Book, Yummy Yucky)

She dislikes: 

-getting her diaper changed (I mean her LEAST favorite thing ever!!)

-giving kisses on cue

-waiting for Mama to fix her food or get the next bite of food on the table

-sitting in her high chair for even one second after she's all done eating 

-Mama or Dada digging in her mouth for that piece of paper, fuzz, (today it was a flower petal) that she just HAD to sneak in there. 

-having car keys or other object that she is thoroughly enjoying/exploring being taken away.

-sitting/laying quiet and still on our bed with nothing to do at 6:30am when Mama and Dada are desperately just wanting to go back to sleep.  =)  

We love our little snuggly, curious, sweet, smiley, sassy, silly, ball of energy SO, SO much!!!  

Talking on the phone

Going shopping with her purse

tennis 101

Gabriella got her first tennis lesson this week, and loved it.  Bonus: She's using her left hand.  Dada was thrilled!! Lefties have the advantage in the tennis world.  New nickname: Rafaela.  

spring/summer 2013

A few highlights from the past six months or so:

Visitors. Lots. o. visitors. 20+ since Gabriella was born.  She wins the most popular award.   Some came for one visit, some came for two or three visits, some stayed one or two nights others stayed one or two months.  Sometimes we had just one person, sometimes we had thirteen persons (!!) at once.  Hotel Mercado.  Actually more like Hostel Mercado since we have 1.5 bathrooms!!! 

Jobs.  Gene continues to love his job and is celebrating two years there this month.  I got a part-time job at our church in February. Returned to my teaching job in April. Quit that job in June and increased the hours for the part-time job in July.   Phew.  It was a busy time, but got through it with lots of God's grace, a very understanding and helpful husband, and wonderful parents who took care of Gabriella during the day, cooked, cleaned, gave us date nights, etc.   Okay, we were spoiled.  Grandparents are the BEST!! 

As far as teaching goes, I hope to teach again and I'm sure the next few weeks will feel VERY strange not being in a classroom (Still getting the August nightmares though), but SO, SO happy I get to work from home and spend my days with my little sweet and sassy Gabriella girl.  It's cool to look back and see how God orchestrated everything and gave us lots of faith through the decision process.  Let's just say San Francisco is not the cheapest place to live/raise a child, but He continues to provide for us abundantly.   
  
Travels.  We took Gabriella on her first road trip and cross-country flight.  Our road trip was to celebrate my Dad's 70th birthday.  He cries tears of joy/amazement seeing God's creation so we knew he'd love Tahoe and Yosemite.  I failed to take many photos but here we are at Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe and Bridal Veil Falls in Yosemite.  

For our cross-country trip we spent a few nights on the Eastern Shore, a week at the beach in the Outer Banks, NC, a few days in Gaithersburg, and finished out our 3-week trip in Jacksonville.  We found out that Gabriella is a great traveler and that she loves the beach and the pool and her Auntie Cleo.   She was introduced to lots and lots of family and friends of Mama and Dada and got to play with all five of her big-girl cousins. 

Checking out lots of new faces and all that hair coming out of Drew's shirt.  =)

Loving the beach!!  Yay!

4th of July in Florida

More photos of our time in NC.  

Buddies

Gene and me kayaking

Last four photos by Keith.   I have camera envy.  

Ok, that's all for now.  Gabriella will get her own update on here soon.  She's growing tooooooo faaast!!!!  

what i'm learning from a ten month old

-If your tummy is full, vigorously shake your head "no" if you or someone else tries to give you more food
-Play hard. Nap harder. Repeat.
-If you don't like to do something(i.e. getting your face washed, getting your diaper changed, washing the dishes), making a game out of it is much, much better than whining and fussing your way through it.
-When you're tired just lay down and go to sleep.
-Belly laugh, giggle, and/or squeal at something silly at least once a day.
-Sometimes simple things (piece of paper, scarf, book) are far more fun and interesting than fancy things (newest toy that sings, "teaches" numbers, letters, etc)
-Hugs and snuggles for/from the ones you love are the BEST, and soft, cuddly teddy bears and blankets are really good substitutes if the ones you love aren't
around.
-Eat lots of watermelon and just let the juice run all down your face and neck.

mercados in real life

I've been thinking lately how mundane our lives have become.  We eat at home every night, look forward to going to sleep at 10pm, and love relaxing weekends without too many social outings.  We'd rather have people over for dinner, games, and conversation, than go out to a restaurant, movie, concert or on a spontaneous day-trip   Our time is more planned.   And nap time at home is almost sacred.   Wow, how different our lives looked a year, even six months ago.  A twenty-something, Katherine would look at my present life and think: "Oh my gosh (OMG didn't exist then), how boring!!!!"  However, 35-year-old Katherine is totally digging the ordinary, coupled with a little bit of the craziness of early morning feedings, wiping off spit-up, figuring out which baby carrying device works best for the days errands, and the fix dinner/eat dinner/feed baby/bathe baby/put baby to bed all in one hour hour.  

My friend Connie, who got the idea from another friend,  just did a post on what real life looked like for her today.  What she said is true, we don't often post about the tough stuff or the ugly stuff, maybe in effort to not seem like we're complaining.  We often put up a cute photo or a funny quote from a cute kid.  I LOVE these and they often brighten my day, but reading about the tough stuff she faced today alongside the sweet snuggles her girl gave her seemed so much more like real life, and a lot like my life.  

So here's my real-life day: 
Started with a 3:30am feeding and not being able to go back to sleep afterwards.  Started thinking about and getting angry over a present financial issue.  Finally went back to sleep at some point.  Woke and fed G at 7:30am.  Baby and I went back to sleep for about 45 minutes.  Got some sweet texts from Gene asking for forgiveness for harsh words the night before.  Shared my 4am struggles with Gene and he asked me to think of what I was grateful for in the midst of our situation.  Cried 'cause I know Gene's right, but I'm not ready to be grateful just yet.  Fed, played with G and got her dressed in a cute outfit that I never want her to grow out of.  Went and hung out on the bed with Leslie who's visiting.  Helped her edit her resume.  Sang Jesus loves me to G.  Then introduced her to The Beatles, "Hey Jude", thinking Nah, nah, nah, na-na-na-naaaah will be easy for her to sing once she starts to.  She LOVED it and smiled and smiled  as I waved her little arms in the air.  Put G down for a nap.  Warmed a leftover Lou's sandwich for "breakfast", decided I needed a shower, cleaned the toilet, read emails, ate cold sandwich.  Tummy time and more play time with G.  Folded clothes, actually put away clothes, made the bed.  Fed G and chatted with Leslie.  Found out from an email from an expert in her field that I gave her bad resume advice.   Read G a new book: "This is San Francisco".  Told her all about being born here and living here.  Put her down for a nap.  Helped Leslie figure out where to go exploring today.  Felt guilty that I couldn't just hop in the car and go with her.  Logged in two hours of work.  Fed G and gave her some playtime on her playmat.  Made blondies for small group.  Started straightening up for small group by hiding baby gear behind couch.  Put G down for a early evening catnap.  Got texts from Gene saying no one could make it to small group tonight.  Ate a blondie.  Made salad dressing for dinner.  Went on a walk with Gene and G.  Grabbed another blondie for the road so I wouldn't get hungry.  Talked about Gene's day at work and followed up on how I was doing with earlier struggles.  G starts crying during walk.  She's hungry.  Hurry home to feed her.  Gene plays with her while I make dinner and eat another blondie.  Eat dinner trying to keep salad bowl out of reach of G.  Dress G for bed.  Sing her favorite bedtime songs and watch her face light up with smiles.  Feed her and check FB/Instagram/Google Reader while she falls asleep in my arms and Gene falls asleep beside me at 7:30pm.  Swaddle and put G to bed.  Leave Gene snoring and write blog post while watching Grey's and eating another blondie!!! (that's four).  And now time to try and catch up on last night's lost sleep.  Can you actually do that?  

And here's a real life photo of Gabriella being put into the baby carrier for our walk today.  She can't stand the process, but loves it once she gets there.  

  

big girl room

Baby G moved into her big girl room this past week.  Kinda bittersweet, but she was definitely outgrowing the basinet that's been at the foot of our bed since she came home.  I miss having her near us, but she is LOVING her room.  There's so much for her to look at.  Actually, so much that it might be keeping her up a little longer at night.  =) 

Here are a few pics:

Inspiration for the room: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Pinterest, Skip Hop Mod-dot sheet, Connie Z (Circle mobile).  Thanks for the idea, Connie Cons.  She loves it!!

Oh and yes, it doubles as a guest room. Come visit!!  

three months old

Gabriella is now three months old!!  

She is now a whopping 13 lbs!  She loves to babble and coo.

splash in the tub, stare at herself in the mirror,

and grab her toys and try to eat them.

She delights her Mama and Dada with the most precious smiles.  She's always smiley when we go get her from her crib and sometimes she'll just surprise us with a big grin out of the blue.  She loves looking at our faces and getting tickles on her tummy. We've even gotten a few tiny giggles.  

 She also grew some eyelashes.  Baby eyelashes.  Melt.  

Overall, she's a happy baby, but sometimes she gets sad or hungry or tired and we get some bottom lip action (and more): 

Footed Jammies.  Melt again.  

We're still not sure if we'll shorten her name to Gabbi or Ella.  For now it's Gabriella or Boopa- loo, Booga-boo, Boo-boops, Smiley, Lovebug, Sweet pea, etc.   

Oh Gabriella, how you brighten our lives, and bring us so much joy!  It is soooo much fun to watch you grow and discover new things.  We love you "to the moon and back".    

holidays 2012

We decided to stay local for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  We had Thanksgiving with a few friends from our small group:

Gene made a scrumptious turkey!!

Mom and Dad Mercado, Lillian, Wilson and family came for a visit in early December to meet Gabriella:

Meeting Grandma for the 1st time--way past her bedtime, so just a little cranky. 

Cruisin' around with Grandpa

G loves her cousins!!!

All the granddaughters with Grandma & Grandpa

We had a quiet Christmas morning just the three of us, and then had a Christmas feast at our place with friends.

Christmas Breakfast in Bed

Our favorite gift under the tree

Thanks for making us feel loved from afar, Family!!

Opening presents

Christmas kisses

"Enough with the kisses!! I'm hungry!!

All santa'd out