I think we've got some good ones here.

On an earlier post, I mentioned that I've posted few pics of Sarah because I feel that the camera does not capture her personality. Beth has offered to photograph her and I might take her up on that offer very soon. But for now, this is what I have. I'm also betting that you think this is the only outfit that the kid owns.....false, negative, quite to the contrary; she has a closet and dresser full of clothes just waiting for her to grow into. (I think that my friends will agree that a woman can never have to much when it comes to clothes, I'm in trouble when she gets my passion for shoes and purses!)

Speaking of growing, my Mom and I took her to the pediatrician yesterday to weigh her. She's been fussy at times and nurses for comfort to the point of spitting up excessively/vomiting. I was wondering if what I had to give her was not enough, or if she has a bit of acid reflux. Yesterday, she weighed in at 7 lbs. 10.5 oz. So that means that she's gaining an ounce a day; she's right on target. The docs office told me to call on Monday if she is still spitting up, so that they can check her for reflux. On the fighting sleep business, we've pretty much resigned ourselves to the fact that at times, she'll just have to fight it, fuss it out to the point of passing out...finally. We're also still working on trying to get her to favor a pacifier instead of me. I pray for patience and patience is a virtue that I do not possess. I've also taken the office's advice in supplementing her bedtime feeding with formula to put something a little heavier on her stomach. That seems to work wonders. She seems to not spit up so much during the night after a formula feeding. Last night, we were shocked to see that she ate almost 3 oz. of formula after nursing and she kept it all down!

Wow! These guessing games are not fun, but before we know it, we'll be shopping for prom dresses and Phillip will be cleaning his guns in front of some poor teenage guy. And from the looks of it, her protective older brother will be alongside Dad shining his pocket knife (or something).

You might not understand, but maybe you will...

THIS was my excitement for the week; besides that and the fact that my Mom is visiting to help us out.

Really, I am so excited about this new storm door. It was installed on Tuesday and it is my window to the world. I love my house. It's by far the best home we've ever lived in. Yet, the only thing we had on the front of the house was a huge wooden door that let no light in. I seriously need some light therapy these days, as I am not the kind of person who deals well with being cooped up in the house. This new door at least reminds me that I am not the last person on earth.

Bend it like....Gabe L!

Here he is. Our little David Beckham. #2 Gabe Lopez is really enjoying his new team. His coach, Frank, is really teaching those kids how to play some good ball and I think Gabe is having a lot more fun this season because of it.

Recent Photos...well, kinda

Here's a couple of pics that I took last weekend. Honestly, I haven't posted anything because I feel that the camera does not properly capture who she really is...her true personality.

For the past couple of nights, One who Fights Sleep has been true to her nickname. She's bright eyed and bushy tailed from around 7 pm until about close to midnight! She's also pretty fussy around this time (fussy because I'm being a "party pooper"?). I try to get her to not go directly to sleep during the day so that she'll want to sleep at night, but what can I do? Hopefully, she will soon work her way out of this annoying little phase. I'll also have to put a call into the Pediatrician on Monday; she nurses until she makes herself sick and spits up everywhere, all the time. If I try to help her not make such an Oinker of herself by limiting some of her nursing time, she gets REALLY mad and desperately roots around for....well, you know.

And her Indian name shall be....

One who fights sleep.

But really, I didn't mind yesterday at all when she stayed awake for a good part of the day. Sarah was alert, happy, and just content with looking around and checking things out. We even took her for a walk around the neighborhood last night. She slept so much better last night and even let me sleep for 3 hour stretches; she nursed every two hours yesterday and the day before, so I was hoping for a little break during the night. As for her gas problems, she's been passing them out instead of holding them in, so we are all grateful for that. Life is getting easier....We've taken her out of the house a bit and she's behaved like a good baby should. We've had friends over for dinner and everyone survived.

Gabe is in love with his little sister. He kisses her all the time. I'm pretty sure he's okay with the idea that life can still go on as (somewhat) normal with a new baby in the house. He's been a tremendous help; I've told him that the best way that he can help us is by just being an "all around good kid"...no fussing for extra play time when it's time to take a bath etc. Oh, and about his allergy shots, he's like an old pro now. Yesterday, I was talking to a friend at the bus stop when he informed me that we should get going so that we could "just get it over with". I think he looks forward to the praise he gets from being so brave about his twice a week shots. He has that look of satisfaction on his face every time we tell him that he "Rocks".

Really ya'll, there is not much else going on around here. I'm sure it will take time for us to have different things to talk about on this blog. Right now, our lives are all about Baby a.k.a. McPoopin, Trouble (for her mischevious little smirks and grins), Piranha, Sarah-Belle.....

I'll try to post more pictures soon.
J~

Hi!

Not much going on this week, besides a little gas and colic...and little sleep (I try to let Phil sleep as much as possible in the evenings, since he has to go in to work in the mornings). We are very fortunate though, to have the help from Phil's parents. They're leaving on Sunday morning and I'll be sad to see them go, but I guess it is time for us to get back to the real world.

I have learned a few things this week:

• The neighborhood mom's have informed me that they are starting to see snakes in the neighborhood. In my opinion, no snake is a good snake unless it's a very dead snake. I HATE them...I've been terrified since I almost stepped on one when I was jumping out of Dad's tool shed window when I was about 12 years old. I've drilled into Gabe's head on what he should do if he sees one....run and scream like a girl is one option.
  
• I've been going gray...no scratch that, white...since I was about 16 yrs. old. I've discovered this week that no matter how new the color and highlight may be on my hair, I will no longer be able to hide it soon.
  
• I don't care what people say....it's not gas, it's a smile and sometimes a laugh that comes out of Baby Sarah. Yesterday, I witnessed her laughing when she peed on Phil's mom. (I had her wrapped in a blanket while I was preparing to give her a sponge bath. I forgot that an un-diapered baby is a loaded weapon.)

Hope you guys have a great weekend!

First Appointment and other ramblings...

Sarah had her first appointment today and she's managed to maintain her girly figure; she left the hospital at 6 lbs 9 oz and weighed in at 6 lbs 11.5 oz today. All in all it was a great appointment and I'm very happy with our choice of pediatrician. For those of you who are in the military, you know that making an appointment for a sick child to see a doctor on Post takes an Act of Congress; Phillip was able to get both of our kiddos assigned to an off-post doc and I'm loving it, because when he's gone again (overseas), at least getting two sick kids to the doctor won't be so much of a hassle.

Which brings me to this....

I've been talking to friends a lot about the upcoming deployment. We all dread it. It's gonna be hard work for those who have to go, and hard work for those who have to stay and take care of house and home. Myself, I'm scared. I'll admit it...I'm really not sure how raising two small children without the help and hands-on support of my husband will pan out. But I think that with the help and support of good friends (and I do have a small circle of good friends that I can really count on; maybe we can plan one night a week at each other's houses to cover the loneliness factor?) and family...and God himself, The Lopez Four minus Daddy at home will pull through. Let's just hope that something miraculous will happen with this stupid war...and our guys won't have to stay out for very long. Fifteen months to one year is too much........

Happy First Week...

Leave it up to Gabe to come up with the idea for a Happy First Week party for Sarah (remember the party we had for Sassy the Tiger at Thanksgiving?). On Saturday night, we had some friends over for homemade lasagna and cake. Of course, little lady chirps up for her feeding right when it's time for us to eat, so I missed out on eating with everyone else, but hey....such is life with a new baby in the house. Oh, and so that you can gauge on how tiny she is, those are teacup saucers next to her on the table.

Gabe has gotten really attached to his little sister. It only took a few days and he is quite smitten. I think he must've kissed her at least 20 times yesterday. He loves helping out whenever he can. Whether it's fetching some more cold water for me, or the very helpful Itzbeen timer...whatever anyone needs, he's happy to oblige. He's still quite intimidated by her small size though, as you can see by the picture of him holding her.

I think we are all adjusting quite well. I have my moments. I still cannot believe that I am the mother of two children. We have our good nights and our bad nights. In the afternoons, Sarah gets a little colicky and so dealing with that and normal family life can be a but tricky. We try to get her to take a pacifier so that she can satisfy her need to suck, but the paci does not stay in her mouth for long (which, I'm okay with...I don't like the idea of it anyway). Thankfully...very thankfully, we have Phil's parents here helping us with Gabe and the house. I'm taking advantage of their help by getting much needed rest, and devising strategy plans and getting prepared for when they are not here. I am thankful though, that in spite of having someone so young and very dependent in the house...I am doing better than I expected that I would. I am also about 4 lbs. over pre-pregnancy weight, which makes me very happy. As soon as I can, I will start walking again in the afternoons to help with the weight loss; maybe afternoon walks will help with my "cabin fever" and Sarah's afternoon restlessness. I also look forward to getting back in touch with my friends and the outside world soon....

Newborn Pics...Part Deux

Phillip wants his finger back. He's shopping for an alternative right now as I type. I'm not a fan of pacifiers, at all, but his pinky was in her mouth most of the night last night...
He now knows why I make faces and ask for pain pills when she eats! ha ha ha

Newborn News...Part One

Not much going on here folks. Just thought I should update you since I see that people have been stopping by (I appreciate the interest, thanks a bunch).

Sarah is growing. She eats so much that I think that on Tuesday, when she has her first appointment, she may show that she's gained instead of lost weight...like newborns often do. She makes plenty of "sourdough biscuit" diapers for us, and her pipes thankfully do not keep air trapped in them. Let's hope she keeps ripping out the farts! (but she's such a lady...). I gave her a sponge bath last night and my heart just melted. She didn't like it very much, but I just couldn't get over how tiny and delicate she is. I am in love (I know, I know, I've mentioned that before) and I think it's pretty safe to say that I'm not the only one around here that feels that way. Phillip is totally wrapped around her little finger!

Gabe is still excited about her; just not quite sure about things right now. It's a big change for him and I think that her being so tiny kinda scares him. He treads very softly around her and has mentioned that he doesn't want to hurt her. We explained to him that he can still be very much the little boy that he is, but just to be careful about certain things like where to aim his Nerf Gun. He called her the "house princess" this morning, so I think that things will be totally okay with him soon. He likes to spend time with me while I'm feeding her, and I take that time to stay in touch with him. It's our special time.

Hope all is well on your end. I'll try to update you soon.
J~

Some pics for you...

Introducing to the world...Miss Sarah Evangeline.
A.K.A. Momma's Ladybug, Momma's Little Piranha.
She's a sweetie! And such a good baby on top of that.

Just got home...

Sarah was born at 2:43 pm on Sat. at 6 lbs. 12 oz. and 18 inches long. The whole process went really smoothly, and quickly.

We asked for an early discharge from the hospital since Sarah and I were both feeling well (I'd rather rest and be sore at home, rather than get poked and prodded every hour at the hosp). We just got home. Exhausted but doing well. She's a little beauty and is strong, alert and nurses quite well!!!

Thanks for all the phone calls, text messages, well wishes etc.
I'll post pics and give more details whenever I get the chance.
Janet

Signing off...

I'll be out of commission for a few days at least. Sometime this morning, I have to run over to the hospital to drop off a specimen and then over to the docs office so that he can check me out. Depending on those results....we MAY be having a baby today. But tomorrow is still the planned induction date. Text my phone or Phil's (for those of you who have the number) for updates if ya want.

We're all excited (and nervous) over here. Buh-Bye for now! Wish us luck.