A year ago today....

at 5:30 in the morning I found out we were growing a "bean". It was the day my life would change forever, when I saw the most beautiful pink lines on that pregnancy test! Before this day I was very content with my life, and little did I know that my life would not fulfilled until the day I heard my daughter's heartbeat, the day I heard her cry, and every day when I see her smiling at me. I would often hear how being a mother was such a beautiful feeling and something that could not be described, and as cliche as all that sounds its so true, so very true.
I remember glowing with happiness but trying to be so discreet (since we weren't sharing the news with family until our Dr. confirmed it). When we went out to dinner on New Year's Eve, I remember Nunie and I both having such a dorky smile we could not wipe off our faces all night long and we would look at each other as I turned down a cocktail, ha! We wanted to share the news with the world, but we also wanted to be cautious, ahhh most amazing feeling. But now it seems as if every day was filled with amazing feelings as Gabriella smiles or coos at us-its wonderful! Now I leave you with a little reminder of this time last year.

The most beautiful pink lines, yay!!

Confirmed it with a digital and wrapped it up for Hubbs

First belly pic, 4 weeks

Took the boat out to celebrate, We're going to be parents!

Karen is Home

Karen arrived yesterday afternoon. My aunt picked her up from the airport and then Mom had to go get her from Conroe. Needless to say they didn't get to our side of town until 8ish and she still decided to go visit(and meet) Gabriella. I was so happy when Karen met Brie, she kept hugging her and smiling. Gabriella is such a special girl-the first granddaughter in my family so she holds a special place in everyone's heart.

We're going over Mom's today and making it a movie and pizza night, just like when we were kids. I'm so excited Karen is home! Today is also my last day at work until Jan. 5th, so it will be nice to relax, be with Gabriella, and hang out with my family.

We also took pictures of Gabriella with Santa this past week. I will post them as soon as I find time to scan them. Let me just say she came out gorgeous!

Happy Friday everyone!

Happy 3 Months Old, Gabriella

It's been 3 months since the most amazing little creature was born. It's been wonderful seeing Gabriella grow so much right before my eyes. Her personality has developed even more and she's such a happy girl! Lately she loves to suck on her little hands, loves listening to music, likes to grab things-(pulling mommy's hair),and she smiles right back at you. She coos away and loves to kick her arms and feet like crazy while laying in bed, she holds her head up really well and likes to pull herself forward while doing tummy time. She is wearing size 1-2 Pamper Swaddlers and is still drinking 4 oz (except for bedtime,she drinks 6oz). Along with that, here are other milestones she has recently reached. I got this from Molly and Mom blog to mark her 3 month milestones.

Month 3

Senses: Eye coordination has improved so much that your baby can now easily follow an object through a 180-degree arc. That means playtime is more fun and dynamic -- patty-cake, anyone? She actually loves playing patty-cake with mommy, especially the "roll it" part, she cracks up! She's a lot more responsive when we're reading to her also.

Body: When lying on her stomach, your little one peels her chest off the ground and lifts her head up 45 degrees (in yoga, this is aptly called Baby Cobra). She always does this while doing tummy time, since she's so curious she needs to be looking at her surroundings.

Brain: Your baby's burgeoning understanding of the world is based on predictable patterns, so when you stray from your normal routine-traveling to visit family or staying out later than usual she may act upset or unsettled. Gabriella is set on her routine so yes when we stay out a little later (on the weekends) she gets very fussy and is ready for her bed and jammies.

Communication Skills: It's ooh and aah time as your newborn begins making vowel sounds. Gabriella is especially talkative in the morning while getting her dressed for "school". (She's going to be a morning person liker her daddy). We also have "conversations" on the way home, she tells me all about her day with her ooohs and aaahs.

Aww Factor: That first amazing smile turns you into a big puddle of mush. The. Most. Amazing. Feeling. Ever. when you see your baby smiling at you! As soon as she sees me when I pick her up at daycare she gives me the biggest and most beautiful smile.

Fave Toy: A rattle. Your baby loves grasping objects and exploring sounds. Besides her hands and pulling mommy's hair, she likes the rattles from her tummy-time mat.

Playtime: Sing-along. Now that your baby is more responsive, she'll whoop with glee at your off-key performance. Gabriella loves to hear mommy sing, yikes! I don't if she actually enjoys it or she's laughing at me, but she chuckles when I sing to her. She loves Patty-Cake, 5 Little Monkeys, and Apples and Bananas.

I was tagged as a TAM (Truly Authentic Mom) by Shandell on her blog, Breaking New Ground. I now have to list 5 things that make me worthy of that title and tag 5 more people, so here I go:

1.I no longer care to shop for myself. Everything is all about Miss Gabriella. I used to love shopping for clothes, jewelry, shoes...not anymore. Not that I don't like doing it, but my time is consumed with shopping for Miss G., can you blame me?

2.When she goes to sleep and we're still hanging around the house, I constantly go in to check up on her. It makes me feel better to do this, and I get a chance to watch her sleep which by the way she looks beautiful.

3.I've already started to plan her 1st birthday party even though she is not even 3 months old. I have a theme in mind and I cannot wait! I know I need to slow down ,ha!

4.After work I rush to get her from daycare. I cannot get there fast enough! I look forward to holding her, kissing her, and smelling her! We have a conversation on the way home also.

5.Thinking about her growing up makes me sad. I want her to be a baby forever. Just to think about her first day of school, her first heartbreak, or moving out to college breaks my heart.

Here are the 5 authentic moms I've tagged:
Melissa-Joshua A. Lozano
Care-The Kipper Family Blog
Alissa-All About Molly
Erika-And baby makes three
Sarah-Falling for Baby

I'm thankful....

I was driving to Target through the holiday traffic earlier this evening to get some ornaments for my students. I was listening to the radio and they were sending "shout outs" and prayers to the troops overseas, afterwards the song "All I Want for Christmas Is You" came on and suddenly a feeling of nostalgia came over me and I started thinking about all the families that will spend this holiday season without their loved one because they are away defending our country. You see I know this feeling very well as my husband (boyfriend at the time) and sister served in Iraq and both were gone during the holiday season in the past; and let me tell you its a terrible feeling when you miss someone that bad and they're in harms way. So this holiday season I am thankful. I am very thankfukl to have my husband home and alive. Yes alive, because four years ago he had a terrible accident while on his second tour to Iraq and days away from coming home. But now he's home. I think about this every year during the holidays because the outcome could have been different. Karen will also come home and be with us for the holidays. Having your family home during the holidays is something that many of us take for granted, so for this reason I want to acknowledge how very thankful I am.

As promised- Our Christmas decor

Here is our house adorned with our Christmas decor. Our fireplace and traditional family tree did not change much from last year other than an addition of Gabriella's stocking. Traditions are very important to me, Nunie and I started some even before kids but we always knew we wanted to incorporate them in their lives one day. One of our Christmas traditions is that we exchange ornaments with a representation of something that happened that year. For instance last year I got him a boat ornament since we got our boat that year, others are a vacation we took, or a special event that marked our lives. Here are some of our favorite ornaments we have acquired so far.
















This is Gabriella's Christmas tree and ornaments














And now I leave you'll with some pictures of our "little candy cane"

Gabriella

There is no particular reason for this post other than to show off my sweet girl. This past week was her second week at daycare and she seems to be doing very well and liking it. We have our routine down, I haven't mentioned this but she is still sleeping through the night. Bedtime is at about 8ish and she sleeps until 6am when we wake her up to get ready for daycare. Nunie bought her some nursery rhyme videos and she loves them! This is after we discovered that she loves television. Don;t get me wrong, I am not a fan of children watching too much tv....it so happened that Nunie and I were watching "Polar Express" and Gabriella was intrigued! I never knew a 2 1/2 month old would even be interested in watching tv, but I guess I was wrong. Some of these pictures show her as she's laying on our bed watching her show with her big girl binkie this past week. We got home took a nap and then spent some quality time in her room doing tummy time and reading to her. You can tell I'm a proud Momma, because I can't resist to just post a picture or two of her. Enjoy~

I think this one is hilarious, haha!





Relaxing after a hard day at daycare


Watching her fave nursery rhymes show






Some tummy-time action





These are of her sitting in her bumbo while mommy and daddy took turns reading to her