Thursday, January 31, 2013

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.  

  

Sunday, January 13, 2013

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!!  

Friday, January 11, 2013

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".    

Monday, January 7, 2013

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