Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!




All I want for Christmas...

Santa 2011...Success!! Check back in one year to see if Santa 2012 goes just as well.

8 Months Old

I'm 8 months old!!!

And boy do I have one big personality!! I "talk" a lot which sometimes involve high pitched screams and giggles. I also smile all the time, except when mommy pulls out that big black camera. Then I put on the "daddy" face and bring it!!! Just wait till I'm a year old mommy and I'm walking!









Sunday, November 6, 2011

I'm 7 months!!!

Could I be any cuter??

(photo's courtesy of Whitney Frank Photography )








Saturday, October 22, 2011

Noah is 1/2 a year old


Can someone please tell me where 6 months has gone?!?! This time last year we were speculating whether we were having a boy or girl and had ourselves convinced we were having a girl. Well let me tell you, Noah is all boy!!! Right down to the chubby little legs he sporting and the constant throwing and banging of every toy we give him!

Noah you are 6 months now and still continue to be the happiest most precious baby! You are a whopping 20.7lbs and 27 inches long when we checked in at the Doctor last week!!! Kid, you do realize you come from short parents?!?! Carrying you around is starting to get a little difficult. You are almost half my upper body LOL.

We started you on solids at 5 1/2 months and you weren't quite sure what I was trying to do to you. Your bibs got more food action then your mouth did. At the 6 month mark thought, it was like a lightbulb went off and you have been chowing like a champ ever since. You love everything I feed you except bananas. You're favorites seem to be carrots, peas and apples. Just for fun I tried giving you some store bought baby food last week and you made the most hilarious "this is the grossest stuff ever!" face. I wish I had my camera to capture it. This makes me happy knowing that you will grow to love food just like your mommy does :)
You are also officially rolling over. Of course you start with the hardest position since you do not like being on your tummy. You can roll from back to tummy. You are starting to get the hang of rolling back but most times you just put your head down on the ground and whine out of frustration until we help you roll back. Pretty soon you are gonna be rolling around the house.

You are still a wonderful 11-12 hour sleeper. Thank you for being such a great sleeper. Now if I could just sleep at night and not worry about you then we would both be great sleepers. Naps are definitely another story for you. You go through phases. Somedays you seem to think you just don't need naps, then other other days you go for 4 hour marathons. Hopefully the more active you get you'll realize that naps are not for sissies and you take more of them.

You are starting to sit up better too. Of course you end up folding yourself forward and are able to pull yourself back up but I think your big dome prevents you from not falling backwards. Did I mention you have a big dome? You can fit in 12-18 month caps already. Small parents remember? Not sure how you got so big.

Noah we continue to enjoy every second we spend with you. You brighten our days. You are daddy's happy place when he's away and the bright spot in my day every day.

We love you little man!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Shop for Sharlie


I don't know Sharlie personally. I wish I did. If I did, I would probably be a much better person for having someone like her in my life. I have been touched by her story. Sharlie has Cystic Fibrosis. You can read her story Here . Sharlie is fighting for her life. She needs a double lung and heart transplant. After lots of prayers she has been accepted as a candidate by Standford to have this massive surgery done. This loving Wife and Mother needs our help. How do you ask? Easy!! We shop!!! Where? Well here of course!! Shop For Sharlie Sharlie has some earth Angels, Jessica of Allora Handmade and Mique of Thirty Hand Made Days got together along with many other Bloggers and Mom based businesses and created Shop for Sharlie. All proceeds go towards helping Sharlie with the growing medical bills her and her family will face from a surgery like this. $5 will get you This absolutely adorable Meal Planning printable created by Much Ado About You, A tutorial for an All Natural Lemon Sugar scrub by Angel Face Designs or I Can Do Hard Things printable. Maybe you are starting your own little business and could use some advertising. Many popular blogs that have several followers are selling advertising space on their blogs for very discounted rates. These are just a few things of the many fun things for sale for a great cause. You don't even need to buy something to support.
If you feel led you can easily make a donation to Sharlie's Fund by going to Sharlie's Angels

Friday, September 9, 2011

Happy 5 Months Noah!


Wow 5 whole months already! You are growing leaps and bounds lil man. You are pushing the scales at 19 lbs! You are chatty chatty chatty and have totally discovered the high pitched side of your voice. You especially get high pitched when you're playing in your jumparoo. You have the cutest little voice and laugh and we love doing things that make you laugh so we can hear it over and over again. You are starting to touch everything! You have this cute way of scratching everything just so you can get used to the feel and texture. You are putting everything in your mouth these days too. We also think some teeth are quickly approaching because you continue to drool buckets. Of course we think it's so cute.

You have also continued to be an amazing sleeper and wake up in the happiest moods. You've even started putting yourself to sleep which is great, but mommy is not sure she's ready to give up rocking you to sleep just yet. I discovered you love your routines for bedtime and nap time and definitely let us know when we don't do it just right. Creature of habit...another trait just like your daddy.

This month is a big month for you as we start to break into solid foods. I'm crossing my fingers you appreciate my attempt at making your food. I'm actually having fun doing it and feel good that I have the time and ability to give you the best. I'm sorry that I'll have to give you your veggies first though. Dr's orders ;) Plus I don't want to be like I was where I never ate any veggies until I became an adult.

Noah, we grow more and more in love with you with each and every day. You have made our days so full and rewarding. We continue to be amazed at what a great baby you are and how lucky we are to be your parents. We cannot wait to see what you surprise us with over this next month.

We love you lil man!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Baby Shower in Honor of Heidi and Emma


On August 7th I co-hosted a shower for one of my best friends Heidi!! She is expecting her first baby, a little girl on September 23rd. I am super excited about this because this would put our babies only 5 1/2 months apart. We always said it would be fun to have babies at the same
time...who would of thunk that it would actually happen that way. Moving back to Fresno, pregnant and all, must have rubbed off on her :) So in true Heidi fashion we threw her a Shabby Chic baby shower. Well thanks to Pinterest I started gathering up ideas to make this a super fab shower. BTW if you have not checked out or signed up for pinterest you so must. But be careful, it's quite addicting!! So Let me just say, I don't craft much, but w
hen I do I kinda go a bit crazy. I take on a bunch of things cause I want to do it all. Pinterest totally played into that for me and I had some lovely glue gun burns to prove it. I dedicated myself to the dessert portion of the shower as well as the favors and other misc items. I was so happy with how everything turned out. The visions I had in my head truly were displayed that day. If only I had captured Heidi's face when she saw everything. It was beyond her expectations and that alone made me happy to see her happy. Vikki did a fabulous job with the tables and centerpieces. For the food spread, one of Heidi's counterparts provided Mediterranean food from her Fiance's restaurant. OMG can you say BOMB food!! Mediterranean Chicken Salad, 2 different hummus', feta and olive appetizer, Mediterranean String cheese (best cheese ever) and pita bread. For the favors, once again my sister took the reigns and made the cutest little candle buckets that had the most lovely pear smell!! She truly is beyond talented! And then the dessert table...well I think I will just let the pictures speak for themselves. This was my first time doing anything like this and I was amazed at how well it turned out. Thanks to Pinterest I was able to make ideas reality. If you haven't check out the site, you must!!! The concept of the site is straight genius. Ok enough babbling from me, here are some shots from the Shower. Sorry for the quality since I am still not an expert with lighting with my camera.

Baby shower invites done by the ever talented Donna



Favor tags and cupcake toppers by Donna at Swish Designs (see link above)


The Dessert Table inspired by searching Pinterest!




Cake Pops made by your's truly


Chocolate covered Jumbo Marshmallows



Entry table with things for guests to do once they got there



Rosette Balls made by me from tutorial found here Rosette Balls



Tables and centerpieces by Vikki :)


Food spread



Momma to be and the the Hostesses



Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Noah's 4 months old!



Welcome to 4 months Noah!! Whoa 4 months already! It feels like yesterday we just welcomed you into the world! Words cannot describe how much of a joy you have been in our lives for the last 4 months. You are such a good little baby. Always happy and smiling, very rarely cry unless you are really really hungry or overly tired. Maybe if you took more naps like Mommy and Daddy would love for you to do then you might not get so cranky sometimes ;) Of course you are sleeping through the night so I really shouldn't be complaining. Just more time we get to spend with you during the day. You are healthy at 16 lbs even and 24 1/4 inches long. You are hitting all your milestones and that makes us so proud. We love listening to you talk and coo and we are always so amused by your gurgling skills. We think you do it more and more since you know it makes us giggle. You are definitely testing out your lungs too! Some days I think you even surprise yourself how loud you can get. You are starting to sit up a whole lot more and are even starting to demand that position. Daddy can't wait for you to sit up on your own so he doesn't have to carry you in your car seat in and out of restaurants. In all you are a wonderful baby and could not have asked for a better little boy! We are truly blessed with you Noah.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Noah's Birth Announcements

So I know I'm a bit late on this but I didn't want to post until I finally mailed all my birth announcements out. It takes me longer these days to get things accomplished. I'm sure once I really get in my groove I won't be such a slacker ;)

Donna at Swish Designs once again did not disappoint when it came to creating Noah's birth announcements. She always takes my vision and creates things better than I could have imagined. I love working with her when it comes to events and parties. I'm currently working with her on a super cute baby shower I'm throwing and the invitations she created really have set the mood!! I can't wait to share all the stuff she's done for mefor this shower. If you need something unique for any event in your life definitely check Donna out at Swish Designs. She is absolutely wonderful to work with. She has some basic designs, to choose from but she will custom create almost anything you want!!! Donna Rocks!!!! So you better go and check her out!!!

And of course what made these announcements fab besides the fabulous design are the actual photos taken by the wonderful Whitney Frank. I just love working with Whitney. She was the one that also did my pregnancy photos. If you are in the Fresno/Clovis area and looking for a good photographer that is great to work with definitely give her spin!! You won't regret it!!

Without further ado:

(last name blurred for security)

Friday, July 8, 2011

3 Months Old!!!

My little man is growing like a weed! I'm not quite sure where the last 3 months has gone. He's no longer my little newborn. Loving all the smiles and coo's and the noise competitions we have. So far he's winning on how loud he can coo. He's sleeping through the night which has made mommy and daddy's sleep life a bit easier. He's mastered the pouty lip but we have yet to get a good picture of it. He is definitely bringing much joy to our lives with his happy personality.
Happy 3 Month little Noah!



And here are some outtakes just for fun. The hand in the mouth is my favorite since this is his new thing. Not sure if it's a teething thing or it's just fun to stick his whole fist in his mouth. I have caught him with just the thumb in there...we might have a thumb sucker on our hands...




Friday, June 10, 2011

Noah is 2 months old!!



Noah is now smiling and cooing completely rewarding us for our efforts as we kiss and zerbert his cheeks. He is staying awake most of the day and starting to sleep longer hours at night. He finally has chub on his legs, arms, belly and feet perfect for squeezing which has made daddy very happy.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The Way I See It...

Disclaimer...I will be mentioning breasts ;)

From the moment you become a parent you immediately want whats best for them. It's amazing how quickly you feel this. I want the best for Noah in all regards. So when it came to feeding I knew that the best was breast. I had all intentions of breast feeding for a full year. Well because of my gestational diabetes, that plan kind of got a wrench thrown into it. When a baby is born to a mom that has gestational diabetes, they immediately check the babies levels to make sure that they are safe and balanced. When Noah was born, his glucose levels were great. I nursed him immediately and thought all was good. When they went to check him again his numbers had dropped way below the safe number they usually like newborns to be at. So to avoid IV fluids they gave him formula to see if this would bring up his numbers. Thankfully it did. For the next 24 hours we had to continue to give him formula after he would nurse from me because his numbers kept getting low without it. After the 24 hours he stabilized, But to be on the safe side we continued to give him a bottle of formula after he would nurse. After day 4 I started to get worried because my milk supply was just not coming in. I immediately contacted a lactation specialist to see what needed to be done to get this process rolling. When we met, we found that Noah had a great latch and rooted very well. So she made some suggestions and sent us on our way. Well I guess my milk came in but really light. He was barely getting a full ounce from nursing. I was getting frustrated because I really wanted this to work, but was getting exhausted from the 1 1/2 hour feedings I was doing trying to get him to nurse. Back to the specialist we go. We met with another specialist that recommended we use an SNS device because the consensus was that Noah was a Lazy nurser and didn't want to work for his food, therefore not stimulating me enough to get what they call let downs for milk. Now I'm not going to go into details on what this is (some of you probably know). I will say it's the most stupid and frustrating contraption to exist. I made it two days and said NO WAY. I realized my feeding times with Noah should NOT be frustrating, and I should not be dreading the feeding hours. Plus he was so much happier just getting a bottle. So we made the decision to not go back to the specialist and I would pump, nurse whatever i could give him and supplement him with formula. Ok maybe this wasn't the best idea because feeding times were still taking FOREVER. After a breakdown of tears for the umpteenth time we then decided that I would just pump and give him what i could and continue formula.

Ok so now feedings were cut down to 1/2 hour to 45 mins. Much better!!! Pumping, well that sucked!!!! Especially when you barely pump enough to feed your child. Even if I pumped all day long, I don't even think i would get enough. So the decision ended up that I would pump to 6 weeks and then that was that!! DONE! I was done crying, I was done being frustrated and I was going to enjoy my child and the time I spent feeding him.

Can you just say OMG!! How exhausting the First 6 weeks were. Noah is now 8 weeks old and Mommy and baby are much much happier. It took me a bit to realize that there was no need to beat myself up because nursing didn't work for me. I've come to realize that nursing doesn't come easy to every mother either. I've talked to many that share the same stories and same frustrations i experienced. Some fought through it successfully and some made decisions like we did. I knew that even on formula, Noah is going to be a happy and healthy baby. We bond during his feedings. I get to kiss on his sweet head and sweet face while he's getting his bottle. He watches me as I talk to him and I know he doesn't feel like he's missing out on anything. We are in a wonderful place and I am happy.

So the way I see it, Every baby is different, every mommy is different and every experience is different. Whether you're a new mom or an experienced mom, you just never know how things will turn out when it comes to the big "N". Just remember to trust your motherly instincts. You know what is right for you and your child and you will always do the right thing even if some may not agree with it. Never beat yourself up for making the decisions you do. You know you're a wonderful mom and no one can ever take that from you.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Happy 1 Month Noah!

Wow really 1 month? I'm not really sure where this month has gone. Being a new mom your days literally all run together as many of you moms know. I can't say this first month has been the easiest of months and of course we are operating on minimal sleep, but we wouldn't change a minute of it if it means we get to see this sweet face every single day!!

Happy 1 Month Little Man. You've changed so much already and we are savoring every day with you since we know how fast they will be flying by us.

7 pounds 12 ounces
20 inches long

Friday, April 15, 2011

Sneak Peek!

WELCOME NOAH MICHAEL!!!

After and early morning induction
mild labor in the morning


then feeling 3 major contractions over a 10 minute period of time after my water was broken and asking immediately for an epidural

In epidural Heaven

then pushing for 2 1/2 hours vs the 1/2 hour they thought I would push (Noah decided to be face up entering the world)

Noah Michael entered the world on April 6, 2011 at 7:23 pm 6 lbs 5 oz 19 3/4 inches long.


Mommy and Noah
(yes I was up at 3:30 am that morning to make sure my hair and makeup was done. Surprised it held so well. The joys of planning your labor)


Daddy, Mommy and Noah
One small happy family of three :)

We could not be more thankful of the blessing that has been given to us in Noah. Even though we are sleep deprived, completely out of our element trying to figure out if you're cold or hot, or hungry or need to be changed, we could not picture our lives now without you in it.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Fresno Baby Shower Recap


On Sunday March 13th my wonderful friends Nicole, Heidi & Allison along with my ever so talented and amazingly creative sister Lisa threw me a wonderful baby shower out here in Fresno. It was such a great afternoon with more family and friends, some friends I haven't seen for a few years and some that I haven't seen for over 10 years! I'll be honest I did cry a bit when Diana, our college momma from Texas who lives in Bakersfield now, walked through the door. Hard to believe that 13 years can pass by so fast.

The girls did such a fabulous job. They knew about my obsession with Black and White Damask and built a whole shower around it. My sister was the creative driving force behind all the decorations for the day and completely out did herself. I am always in amazement of her talents.

The spread was great and also diabetic friendly (thanks Allison) so that I could easily partake. You also couldn't over look the dessert table filled with chocolate truffles as well as some of the most amazing cupcakes from The Sugar Shack. Yes I did splurge and have a cupcake. There is no way I can pass up a Red Velvet cupcake especially ones as good as these were!!

Ok ok I know pictures picture pictures!

Well here you go.


Great Spread especially for the party pooper Gestational Diabetes mommy to be ;)
(Not shown was the great cheese & crackers platter and the Chinese Chicken Salad)


Centerpieces made by Lisa
(Mugs from Pier 1 Imports)



All Decorations and tags made by Lisa




Hershey's Kisses with "Kisses from Noah" on the bottom of each one
White & Blue Damask with Blue accent candle tins with the "Love Spell" Scent
courtesy of my sisters company Quartz Mountain Candle
Like I said, she's amazing!!!


Chocolate Truffles and Cupcakes from "The Sugar Shack" in Fresno








All in all it was another special day for me as we celebrated the upcoming birth of our little boy Noah. I am so thankful and blessed for all the people in my life and thank all of you that came out to help celebrate. It truly meant so much to me.