introducing. . .

Grayson Luke Mercado!!!
Born on Tuesday, June 24, 2014 at 4:25pm
7lbs, 3oz. and 19 3/4 inches

We are so happy he is here!!!!  Here are a few photos from his first few days of life:

After about two hours of active labor at the hospital, Grayson didn't want to waste anytime getting here.  After only ten minutes of pushing he came out (peeing on the doctor and Dada!!!) and joined us.  He caught on very quickly to eating and sleeping out here in the big world.  

Meanwhile, big sister was home with her Papa and calling the police on his cellphone!!!! I guess she wanted everyone to know that Grayson was here!! 

We love this sweet boy so, so much!! He is fitting right in to our little family of four.  And big sister is so sweet with him (minus a few reminders to be gentle and not give him fist bumps on his head or throw toys at him!!!). 

Here's a pic of the first time she tried to play with him and share her toys: 

What a sweet blessing it is to share life with these littles.  Looking forward to many adventures with them.  

and baby boy makes four

So our next WAY overdue update is that we're soon to be (already are--depending on how you look at it) a family of FOUR!!  Yep, our latest little bundle of joy is due to enter the world on or around June 27th.  Only 7 more weeks to go!!  His nicknames have been Itty Bitty Mercado, Little Boo Boo and now Baby Boy.  
As pregnancies go, it's been a pretty smooth one.  I craved lots of starchy carbs at first, baked potatoes, pizza, chicken sandwiches, etc, but eating went back to normal around 11 weeks.  Unless we're talking about garlic.  After a few cases of really bad heartburn for Mama, we've learned that he's not a fan of too much garlic.  Which goes well with his love for gum.  For several weeks during the second trimester, I felt like I had morning breath all. day. long!! So I was constantly chewing gum.  Thankfully I found an huge 18-pack of Orbit at Costco to help everyone out.  
He moves and kicks and gets lots of hiccups just like his older sister.  And speaking of her, we dressed her up in a big sister t-shirt to tell the news to lots of family and a few friends.  I was in Craddockville in October when I discovered I was pregnant so I quickly 2-day shipped (thank you amazon prime) a big sister t-shirt to share the news.  Gene found out earlier than that because I couldn't hold it in any longer.  Then a few (LONG) days later we put big sister in her big sister shirt.  Nana and Papa were a little slow in catching on, but Aunt Lori, Auntie Cleo and cousin Abigail win the awards for figuring it out the fastest.  
Here's his debut at nine weeks:

Fast forward a few months later and we had a little gender reveal party.  Nana and Papa were visiting in February so they both got to go to the ultrasound appointment.  Then we took   a sealed envelope to a local bakery where they made cupcakes with pink or blue frosting in the middle.  We picked up the cupcakes the next afternoon and had our mini reveal party with Aunt Leslie documenting it all.   

Lots and lots of blue frosting!!!

The happy Dad of a son!!

Baby Boy Mercado is the first boy of his generation on both the Killmon and Mercado sides of the family.  The first boy in over forty years!! 

We can't wait to see him and hold him and squeeze him (gently) and give him bunches and bunches of kisses!!

Gabriella update: eighteen months old

We're overdue for lots of life updates on this blog here.  All old news by now

 but I still must document.  First up, our Gabriella Rose is 18 months old!!  Where did the last six months go? I'll start with a flashback to six months ago when we celebrated her first birthday.  

We had three celebrations.  First, the afternoon of her birthday with just Dada, Mama and her:

Since she LOVES doggies, I made her a doggie cake.  That's about as messy as she got since she's not into being messy, but she loved it, I promise.  

Presents!! An activity table from Mama and Dada, blocks from Auntie Sue-Sue and Uncle Andy and much more!!!

Her second celebration was the following weekend with many SF friends,

 and Auntie Cleo came all the way from Maryland and made cupcakes and a little cake just for Gabriella.  Dada made menudo and lumpia, and Mama decorated.  

 She was not a fan of the crown Mama made her.  

 but she liked her #1

 and the cake too!

 and her presents!!

 Then the sugar-rush kicked in and she was spazzed.  

Her final celebration was in Craddockville with Nana, Papa, uncles, aunts and cousins.  Her cousins helped her blow out her candles. 

  

Since her birthday, she's been a busy, busy girl!!  She started walking, climbing up and down stairs, eating with a fork and spoon, doing lots and lots of talking and much more!! She now repeats just about everything we say. Yikes!!  She loves cheese and strawberries and toast and "cados" (avocados) and "muk" (milk) and smoothies.  She likes to give hugs and kisses.  She likes to bring us books and stick her tushie out to back up in our laps for stories.  She LOVES to put on her shoes over and over again, and Aunt Leslie's shoes too.

 She likes to play in the sand,

play with puzzles and shape sorters,

whip up some yummy food in the kitchen,

 and look out the window at all the trucks, buses, dogs, birds, kids walking to school, and the occasional trash truck or fire truck.  

We love you so much, little girl and the world is so much more fun and exciting seeing it through your eyes!  Happy 18 months!!