PB&J, Cake and The BIG O_N_E!!!

One year ago today I became a mommy and brought sweet Orlando Gabriel into the world! today i am sitting here watching my son eat peanut butter and jelly, drinking cows milk, and watching sprout. I am proud to say that I held in my tears until this moment. and my baby is the most compassionate and loving baby ever! he sees me tearing up and puts his hand, palm up, in the air and pulls in his fingers say"come here mommy" as i get off the sofa and walk to his highchair he grabs my arm and looks up at me with his brown eyes wide and has this look on his face of "mom i love you and i always will no matter how big I am." he smiles and excitedly screams "MAMA!!!" and we both laugh for a minute. I am so in awe of how amazing my little man is and while its very bittersweet seeing him growing older I am so excited for the man he is becoming.

I know i havent written in a long time! so for an update on the little man he has taken 5 steps on his own, his favorite word is mama :D and he loves loves loves to swim! He even blew bubbles in the pool yesterday! this stage is so much fun and seems like he is doing something knew every day!! Oh yeah and his just cut his third tooth today!! yey! he is so much happier now that that one is through even just that tiny little bit! it was the top right front tooth and it was rough getting that one out!!!

Im sure i will post again really soon with pictures of cake and everything!

ER Trip #3... Seriously?

So i never though i would be back in the ER before the stitches came out from our last trip! (which he is getting out tonight, so yes we are going back to the hospital again...) Orlando had been Extremely out of character for the last few days. it started on Easter night we were staying the night at my moms and he didn't sleep at all! i had read different things on babies responding differently to unusual environments. so since we were sleeping at my moms i thought he was having trouble there. Gabriel and i tried holding him and rocking him, but he was inconsolable. i should have figured it out then but when O was 5 months old i thought he had a hernia and took him to a pediatric surgeon (who happened to be our surgeon on sat) and was told that he didn't have a hernia. he finally fell asleep in my arms and was normal until thursday afternoon. we woke up from his afternoon nap still tired, refusing to eat, whinny, and wanting nothing but to be held and snuggled. he went to bed early and woke up friday morning "normal" again. i had plans to do my moms hair on friday afternoon so me and O headed out to dublin around noon. he took a nap and woke up the same way he was the afternoon before. thats when the trouble started.

Since when he was in these moods he wasnt eating he didnt have a wet diaper either.. so from 3 until 7 he was passed between me, my mom, and papa kevin until my mom said that his diaper was a tiny bit wet and it might make him more comfortable if i change it. my poor baby was so upset when i put him down to change him. he tensed up his little hands and was shaking them back and forth. as i took off his diaper i was extremely surprised at what i saw. there was what i thought to be swelling in his right testicle. i called the advice nurse and was recommended to bring him to the nearest hospital. so here we were on our way to Walnut Creek Kaiser. Gabriel was working so luckily my mom and kevin came with me.

once at the hospital we got through the waiting room fairly quickly. once we saw the Dr. he looked at his diaper area, touched it and in about 30 sec determined it was definitely a hernia. then preceded to try and push what had fallen through the hernia back into his body where it belonged, which look very painful. when he couldnt do it he said he would call a surgeon to come take a look. after about 45 mins a surgeon resident came in to take a look a try to push it back in as well. he also could not. about 20 mins after that he came in with a flashlight and shined it through the mass. i was still in the dark about what they had thought had happened and what was going on. then our nurse came in and told us we were being transfered to kaiser oakland... by ambulance.. uh what? later i was told it was because we were already admitted so thats why we needed the ambulance. we waited over and hour for the ambulance. which was nice for two reasons. one gabriel was off work and had met us at the hospital and two Orlando got a pretty good nap in grandmas arms.

Loading into the ambulance ended up being the most informative part of our night. it was now after midnight. and Rebecca my EMT was awesome we talked the whole way there and she told me that his intestine has fallen through the hernia and if no one could push it back up where it belonged that they would do surgery tonight to prevent the intestine from becoming damaged. once at oakland, after going through be admitted again.. and lots of waiting in our room, we met Dr Kim who was chief Pediatric Surgeon he looked and the hernia and determined very quickly that we doing surgery that morning. after lots of paperwork and meeting our amazing pediatric anesthesiologist i was handing over my baby for surgery.


Luckily for me it was a quick procedure and at 3:35AM, about 45 mins later, i got the call saying he was on his way to recovery and everything went great. i was so relieved and just wanted to hold him! we rushed up to recovery and actually beat him into the room. it was so strange seeing him sleeping with the Oxygen mask on. i stood over him gently rubbing his head for about 15 mins waiting for him to wake up. it was now about 4AM and i went to go sit down, as soon as i turned my back he startled up and was ready for me to hold him. i was so awkward with him. i didnt want to hurt him and was trying to avoid touching his IV and all the other monitors connected to him. but the nurses were great and got him in my lap so we could nurse. he hadnt eaten anything since 11 AM the day before. he was very hungry and ate great. after that he fell asleep instantly on my shoulder. then we got transferred to the pediatrics wing and once again went through the admitting process. Orlando went to sleep in his crib and gabriel fell asleep on the couch and i was up answering questions until 5:45AM.



Orlando woke up at 7:30 he was still very tired and wanted to be held. my dad surprised us and came to visit. he held Orlando and put him to sleep so i could sleep some too. they started our discharge around 11 AM and we left around 1 PM. O slept the whole morning and the whole way home. once we were home he was way ready to eat. He was very glad to be home and so was I!

he is doing so good today and acting pretty much normal. We are all still catching up on sleep but he is ready to go go go. im so glad that we got this figured out and fixed. it may seem strange but i am also very greatful and blessed that it happened how it did. i cant even imagine how much more freaked out and nervous i would have been having to wait a week or two for the surgery. Im so glad this is over!! thank you everyone who has been praying for us! your support has made such a difference for our family. i have definitely have felt your prayers covering us and feel blessed to have so many great people in our lives!!

xoxo

ER Trip #2....

So last night was Orlandos 2nd trip to the ER in his 9 month 3 weeks life. although this time was extremely scary and will probably be haunting me for years to come. i am still not exactly sure what happened because i, of coarse, was in the other room using the little girls room. all i knew was a walked back into the kitchen to hear my son screaming with blood all over his face... i scooped him up to consul him and try to examine where the blood was coming from. first thing gabriel and i see is the gash right under his nose. we look at each other and say "ER?" and we were in the car...on the longest 5 min drive of my life. Orlando is not really a crier and he screamed the whole way there. once at the ER he stopped crying and we waiting in line about 10-15 mins. while there i had so many things running through my mind.. "how could this happen?" "will he be ok?" "if he needs stitches how do they give them to a baby? will they have to put him under?" "would if its not the bad and we are being dramatic" "will it be as expensive as last time?" "am i am bad mom for letting this happen?" all the while the line behind us is growing and i am feeling very anxious. once we reach the front of the line we were classified as a "non-emergency emergency" which i guess makes the process faster. we got called back and saw a Dr. pretty quick. once he came in and about a 25 sec look at Orlando's face and said we need stitches. at that point my anxiety sky rocked and i could barely hold back from bawling my eyes out. then Doc asked gabriel "so can you help hold him down?" umm what?!! the hospital just became a modern day torture chamber... as the Dr is getting ready our tech comes in and says "this isn't going to be fun.." so that really helped settle my nerves... the rest is to crazy to describe, but i will say that i was in the corner whimpering telling myself that i have to be strong and telling every muscle in my body not to run out of the room. when the nurse says " ok mom we are almost done and he will want you, are you ready?" "i practically shouted YES!" and he was back in my arms. right where he belongs!! it was not about 1 1/2 hours past bed time and all three of us were extremely tired.. Orlando fell asleep in the car. he seems to not even notice today that he has three stitches going down his face. i wish my memory could be like his in that sense.. praise the lord he is ok now and we had the insurance to get him seen. i guess in the end i am trying to come to terms with the saying that "boys will be boys"...

The Sun is Shining!

What a hot day!! I have been trying to work out and eat better the last few days after i realized i gained 7 lbs only the last few weeks! my new obsession is chocolate delight cereal by special k! i eat it at night instead of dessert which i feel like has been a major part of my down fall! so my exercise for today was a walk and trip to the park with my great friends Katie and Rebecca and Orlando's best friends Jax and Addy! We stopped and got starbucks on the way, which tasted A.M.A.ZING!

Orlando was the most active he has ever been at the park! we went to a knew one the didn't have swings so he couldn't do his favorite park activity. because of the no swings and his latest "trick" of pulling himself up onto everything! and crawling around the equipment.

We had a really good time but once we were in our car and on the way home i had this feeling like i wasnt hanging out with my "bestest friends, that i do everything with and always hang out with" i guess i just felt a distance and a lot more catching up than i would have wanted with my best girl friends. i havent decided if its the season we are in right now or if not going to the same church is going to affect our my friendships more than i anticipated... lame..

i am so excited about summer with my growing baby boy and discovering swimming and walking and im sure lots of sunscreen and park visits!! we already have another one scheduled tomorrow with Grandma, Papa Kevin, Jennilee and my nephews!

xoxo

Our First Trip to the ER....

So we had a very eventful day yesterday... my even keeled, great tempered baby boy was so grumpy! the first half of the day was normal and then i went to lay him down for his second nap and he was screaming! it was a different kind of scream and i am put off guard because it is so unusual for him. i try to let him work it out on his own but when his screams began escalating i went in a got him. then the crazy started! he still was screaming while i was holding him. not only was he screaming hard but he was laying his head down on my shoulder, if he is normally throwing a fit he would be pushing off of me and turning his head all over the place. so i knew he was tired but couldn't figure out what the screaming was about. and for those of you who have kids you understand how broken my heart is at this point.

after an inspection from me, gabriel, and his auntie Jennilee, none of us could come to a conclusion. and im holding him and patting his back to try and sooth him he lets out a a good burp and im thinking yes! ok he has gas its hurting him and thats why he is screaming and wont sleep! he begins settling down and falls asleep on gabriel's chest. we figure we are free and clear until about 20 minutes later he wakes up screaming again. we decide to go to bible study in the city and the car ride will help him sleep, which it did. he slept all the way there. when i pulled him out of the car he just collapsed his head on my shoulder again and pretty much stayed right there until the end of study. he is such an active baby i was really concerned about how tired and unactive he was. then the kicker he is sleeping on my shoulder and then wakes up looks at me, makes a funny face, then i had my first experience of bring thrown up on. it was so gross and at the same time i felt so bad for him and felt a tiny bit embarrassed and disruptive. (which i know is silly but hey im human!)

so on our way home i called the advice nurse to see what i should do and she was concerned about him bring so unresponsive and told us to go to the ER. of course as soon as we get there he is holding his head up and looking around again. the Dr said he doesnt have any signs of dehydration and to just keep an eye on his fluids! good news! so at the end of the day we got some very expensive peace of mind! and i am so thankful! when we got home he nursed which is great because he had refused to twice. he is almost normal today and so far have had a great morning! thank you to all of you who sent your prayers! the first picture is of my poor baby at the hospital and the last two are his improvement today!

btw not sure if you can tell but he pulled himself to standing on the coffee table all by himself!

Rainy days and growing babes!

so for the first time in months Orlando would not take his second nap! i was babysitting jax and i think that he knew he was here and would NOT sleep! it was so weird for me because he is such a good napper i felt lost with what to do! i tried for a while to let him put himself back to sleep and after a while i caved... i brought him out to play with jax and he was in such a good mood! so strange that he skipped his nap and was being an angel! he totally just wanted to play with his friend.

they played so cute together too! they haven't just played together in probably over a month because of flu season. katie was sick, then jax was sick, then i was sick! and now at 7 and 8 1/2 months the sit up on their own and actually are interacting with each other and their toys! so cute! they are both such good babies!

orlando has practically perfected his crawling. it has been exactly one week since his first few moves forward and im so impressed with how quick he picked it up! he was like that with rolling over too! i think he is one of those babies that waits to do something until he is confident he knows exactly what to do! he is growing so big and his face is looking so grown up lately! he is looking just like his daddy! so handsome!

i am so ready for spring and sunshine! not a huge fan of the heat but i was taking orlando to the park for several days in a row last week and could only go on thursday this week because of so much rain! its really nice for o and i to get out and get some air and exercise together! so please rain rain go away! :D

xoxo

Hope, Love, and happiness!

Life has been crazy crazy latly! i have been aprehensive about posting about finding a new church... But we have been on the hunt for 3 1/2 months and are finily settling into something new! it is in SF and we are more than thrilled! we are diving into groups tomorrow and excited about meeting new people and reaching a whole new city! we visited for the first time two weeks ago. the chruch is new,

its frist service was the first sunday of feb. The worship was great, i felt comfortable, they were talented, and they sang some of my favorite songs, which really helped make it feel like home! i think what really got us was how welcoming everyone was! from getting off the elevator to walking down the hall and around the corner to the kids room i think about 10 people greeted us! we already felt like we knew people! and the kicker was the usher sat us in the second row behind the pastor!!! That was our "seats" at tg! we felt so comfortable and welcomed! and then the pastor began his message.... and it couldnt have been more pertinent to our live and our talk on the drive that very moring to chruch! the message was on leadership and contrasting positional leadership to servant leadership! something that has been on gabriel and my hearts and minds for the past few months. God is so faithful and amazing about getting his message to his people in and understandable and applicable way. our lives have flipped upside down in the past few weeks we have a prospect of gabriel going to school and me going back to work! so friends please be praying for continued direction in our lives! God has been so good to us!
favorite quote of the week:
"God doesnt call the the equipped, God equips the called"

on a seperat, lighter note, Gabriel complains that i never write about him in my blog! We are growing and developing our communication all the time! i feel like the "blending" and "becoming one" is like... real... HAHA! i feel silly i dont know how to describe it but i guess bottom line i am sooo happy and "holy" married... (a pun from one of gabriels fav pastors ed young and his series called holy married, highly recommend btw) gabriel is such an amazing dad and makes o laugh like ive never seen!! they are totally buddies! (he even changed a poopy diaper this morning!!;P )

i guess for me my life has been filled with so much joy and fufillment because i have really been honoring god in the good and the bad! it makes such a difference on the bad days and makes the good days that much greater! YEY!!

well my darling hubby just got home from work with taco bell!! yes its late and im eating great! first time ive have it since january.... i hope i dont make this a habit!...

gnight! xoxo