Year In Review 2008!

Current mood: accomplished

Its that time of year again... where we say goodbye to 2008 and hello 2009! When I was younger, I used to keep a diary. In my diary I would summarize all the little things that happened to me during that year and my hopes for the new upcoming year. I have since stopped doing this years ago, but now decided to pick it up again. Especially now that little Mia is here! I thought it would be kind of nice to reminisce what has happened to me and my little family this year! So here we go, I will try to keep it nice and summarized, but you know how out of control my blogs can be! Especially when they involve baby Mia!

January:
Well the year started off great. I was a little over 2 months pregnant and the morning sickness was finally fading. January was also the month where I got to hear little Mia's heart beat for the very first time. It was so exciting! We still didn't know what she would be yet, until Jan. 31st. That is when I went to the hospital for some mid-back pains and they let us know that we were having a baby girl!!!! We also were treated to new Ultra Sound Pics! It was a great month!

February:
Love was in the air! I was in love with my baby bump and my little daughter hiding inside! oh and of course my husband Adrian too! Feb. was the month were we go our first big pregnancy scare. During her ultra sound check up it was discovered that she had enlarged kidneys. We were told this is most likely due to a blockage and we wouldn't know if it would get better over time or not. We would have to wait another couple of months for a follow up to see if her condition improved. It was a very stressful time for us, but Adrian always kept a positive attitude about the whole thing and really helped me maintain a sense of positivity as well. Also, I felt her kick when I placed my hand on my tummy for the first time! It really started becoming real to me that I was really having a little baby!

March:
Testing.. testing and more tests. This month I was battered with all sorts of tests. One of the main one was the gestational diabetes test. For anyone who has endured this process knows how horrible it is. But it was for the good of the baby and of course did not hesitate to take or do anything I needed to do. I was told to start doing my kick counts, which was really easy to do since she was always so active and going nuts! She was still shy though, whenever she would start kicking I would have Adrian or someone feel her but she was quickly stop and hide! The kidney situation was still on the back of our minds... we wouldn't have another follow up till April.
April:
This was my birthday month. I was already 7 months pregnant and really showing. I was always so proud to walk around with my little tummy and spent so much time just rubbing it and talking to little Mia inside. We got the best news ever.. her kidney problem cleared up on their own and she was healthy and doing great!!! What a relief! I could finally really start enjoying my pregnancy even more! Also, for a early birthday presents we had the 4-D ultra sound done. We really got to see our little one, and how much she changed and was growing! The tech. couldn't get over how cute she was and fell in love with her cheeks! She was the first to say , that maybe she would have dimples! (Which she does!) I had have more blood drawn and more tests but everything always checked out good. The pregnancy was going great.. no big pains and I was really enjoying it!

May:
The end was near.. I was really getting excited. Then it hit like a ton of bricks... the easiness of pregnancy was suddenly over and the pain came! I had the worse pelvic pain of my life! I was later diagnosed with Symphysis pubis dysfunction. The only cure was to give birth. It soon became unbearable to turn in bed, sit for long periods of time and even walk! But aside from that, I was still enjoying my little one growing inside and anticipating the big event! I also had my very first Pre-Mothers Day! that was so special to me, and Adrian helped make it extra special. He bought me a rose and said it was from the baby! I also started to finally gain weight and boy did it come on! I was scared I would break my scale! haha May also was the month my best friend Mona gave birth to her little boy, Koa! Once he was born, I really couldn't wait for little Mia! We also had the Cardoso Family baby shower, and we got TONS of presents! I was as big as a house and always waddled around proud of my baby bump!

June:
One more month to go! I felt I was on the verge of popping! Literally! My pelvic pain worsen every day but I was getting through it. I even went to physical therapy to attempt to relieve some of the pain... it was unsuccessful. I also experienced my first bout of vertigo. Though I went to the doctor soon after, we never did find out what caused it! It was horrible, I never felt like that before and it was scary! The doctor visits became every week and things were always checking out great! The swelling really started to kick in and my feet would swell so huge that I literally had Fred Flintstone feed! I constantly needed to have them elevated. Also this month, we had the Pizano Family baby shower in Oxnard and that was so much fun! Many family members had not seen me since Xmas so it shocked many of them to see how big my tummy was! June was also the month were Adrian and I started staying the night at his Mom's house. Just to be safe, incase I went into labor while he was at work. (He worked the graveyard shift there in San Diego). It was a great time. I learned to cook many wonderful dishes (His Mom showed me) and I was pampered to the max. I started experiencing small contractions this month too and I was getting more and more anxious about the big day! Soon I was becoming impatient! I wanted little Mia to be here!

July:
The Big Day finally arrived! at 4:07pm July, 11th.. little baby Mia was finally born!!!! After some small complications, she was finally born by c-section. She was born healthy and with a nice pair of lungs that she was not afraid to use! The whole family welcomed her! It was an indescribable event and the best day of my life! Overall, July was a whirlwind of learning the ropes of parenthood, to recovering from major surgery to just enjoying my little baby. My parents stayed for a week to help and Adrian's mom stayed for another. I seriously couldn't do it without their help.

August:
Another month that flew by like a blur. I was finally getting the hang of being a new Mama, but Mia never hesitated to throw me curve balls left and right. Just when I thought I had everything figured out.. haha She was growing fast and healthy. This was the month Mia also had her first case of heat rash! That was scary... but it was awesome to have my Sis-in-law just a phone call away if I ever needed any advice. She’s a mother of three and a true veteran Mama! Haha I wouldn't know what I would do without her! Any my parents too of course! Actually everyone.. I was always looking for help from anyone and everyone.

September:
This was an extra special month for Adrian and I. We celebrated being together for 10 years! Yep, a whole decade! Talk about a milestone! We had a small quiet celebration here at home with the baby. Wow we really have come a long way. Mia took her first trip to San Diego to meet some of her Cardoso Family, and also got her first round of shots! She did good though, considering!

October:
Another milestone month for Adrian and I. We celebrated our first wedding anniversary! It was also the first time we left Mia with her grandparents (Pizano) while we dashed off to Vegas to celebrate. Though it was fun to get away for a day.. all I could do was thinking about Mia and miss her and want to go home! Sigh.. joys of motherhood haha Mia also had her first Halloween and it was great taking her to the mall and showing her off. She was a little bumble bee but had tons of different costumes at home. I was always taking tons of pictures of her dressed in something new.

November:
Mia had her very first Thanksgiving and first trip to Oxnard!!! She did great with both. It was awesome to spend the holidays as a true little family. She also learned to roll over this month! Our little girl was growing so fast! November was also the time were we elected our first African-American president! This was a historic moment in our history and little Mia was here to experience it too!

December:
Mia was the star as she made another big debute on Xmas Eve. We spent it in San Diego with the Cardoso family, many of which had not met her yet! So it was a lot of fun. Xmas Day we went to Oxnard and spent it with her Pizano family! She did great on the road trip and we all had a lot of fun! Mia picked out her very first xmas tree this year as well.. all by herself! She also met Santa for the first time! She truly made the whole xmas experience so much fun! Mia really does enrich our lives and I love every moment with her. This month we also had to say goodbye to a dear family friend.. Subie. Adrian finally sold his car to his cousin Oscar. It was a sad thing to see it go, but it was time. Now we can spend even more money on baby things!!! haha
That brings us to now... Dec. 31st. the last day of the year. Wow how much time flies and how so many things happened. I wouldn't change anything about this year, it was truly special.
So what’s in store for next year?! Well who knows. ... all I hope is that everything keeps getting better. Hopefully Adrian will get that raise hes been waiting over 21 months for, or even better, get a job closer to home so he doesn't have to commute 90+ miles everyday!, hopefully I will get a job but still be able to spend a lot of time with Mia, hopefully our financial situation will improve and we will be able to spend a little more freely again. But all that is small, what I mainly hope for us Mia keeps growing healthy and happy. I hope to continue to be a great Mama to her and give her all she needs.

As I say my goodbye to 2008, I am not sad. In fact, I am happy. With every new year comes new experiences, events and milestones! Including Mia's first birthday! I don't believe in holding on to the past because you’ll miss the present as you zoom towards the future! So Happy New Years Everyone! and Welcome 2009!!!!

Mia Ate Her First Semi-Solid Food Today!!!!

Current mood: amused

Today is a very special day for little Mia-girl! She has another huge milestone to mark down. She ate her very first Semi-solid food today!!!!! It was Gerber Baby Rice Cereal. We have been planning on feeding that to her for awhile, but with her whole constipation ordeal (which she still semi has) we have been putting it off and putting it off. Now she is semi regular (at least no more hard balls or nuggets! haha) so we decided today will be the day!

I set up her little seat on the chair (that her Grandpa and Grandma Pizano gave her for Xmas) and buckled her in. I mixed 2oz worth of cereal with some water. I grabbed the camera and Adrian and I took tons of pictures of her attempting to eat.

It didn't go to well. She got more on her bib that she did in her mouth. At one point she starts licking her bib! haha but she didn't like it very much. She wanted to chew the spoon rather than eat. When we would put a little on her tongue she would just push it out of her mouth or let it fall out. It was everywhere! to say the least. She wouldn't swallow it or eat it and just seemed to taste it then spit it out. Eventually we just stopped and gave her, her bottle. Then she was very happy. Adrian mentioned that maybe we should mix her formula with the cereal instead of water so she can associate food with that stuff too. Maybe the taste was too new to her and she didn't know what to do with it! haha

Anyways, its a big day for my little girl and I just had to write about it! I will be posting pics soon and her video!

Mia’s First Christmas!

Current mood: exhausted

Well we pulled it off... Mia officially had her first Christmas'. What a whirlwind couple of days. I am separating this blog from her usual weekly blog because, one: its be a very special event and two: if I include this blog with the weekly Friday one.. it will truly be epically long!

So to sum it up, it went great! We had so much fun and everything went perfect! First, since it is the "Cardoso" side Christmas we were to spend X-mas eve with Adrian's family. At first I wasn't too sure how I would take it emotionally, you know, being away from my own extended family for xmas eve (The Pizano side get together on Xmas Eve ie. aunts, cousins, uncles etc) but to my amazement, I didn't feel that bad at all. I mean, yea I did miss them a lot but I feel so welcomed and apart of the Cardoso clan, that it still felt very special to me. Plus we got to show Mia off to a lot of family members who haven't had a chance to meet her yet. That was fun, she was the star!
We spent the first half of Xmas Eve at his Moms house. It was storming and raining but that didn't stop us from heading off to San Diego. His sister and her little daughters where there, his mom, and his younger brother. Unfortunately, his step dad had to work and couldn't make it. But it was a nice cozy little get together. His mom always has the house all decorated and feeling homey. His neices were so overly excited about xmas and seeing Mia again. They are so in love with her, especially the youngest one, Brianna (3). Mia had her little baby santa dress on and looked cute as a button. After his Mom stuffed us with homemade beans, potato salad and of course tamales, it was present time. It was so cute watching the girls tear through their presents and get excited but the main highlight was watching little Mia get gifts and see all the cute stuff she got. She got some really cute outfits from her Tia Rebecca and Grandma and a cute little light up turtle toy that will help her learn shapes and numbers. She seemed to really like that the best... she kept hitting the buttons to turn on the music and lights and eventually tried to munch on the plastic turtle head! Her Tio gave her this really nice looking frame that we can put her pictures in for each one of her months. We have a similar frame like that already, however, this one was really nice and way outshined our current one. I can't wait to fill that up with pictures! After visiting while we headed over to his Tia Gloria's house where the rest of the family was gathering.

We couldn't wait to show off little Mia at his Tia Gloria's house. Once we walked in and everyone found out we were there, we were crowded at the doorway. We didn't get far into the house before we had to bust Mia out of her car seat and into the waiting arms of all his Tia's and cousins. Yep she was definitely a highlight. She even got to finally meet her big cousin Baby Daniel (who is only 4.5 months older than her!) She was passed around like a great holiday dish and everyone had a turn. The whole house was buzzing around Mia and she was on very good behavior. She didn't mind being passed around, however she refused to smile. She does that when she’s uncomfortable with her environment. But she did great! Everyone really got to enjoy her. Especially Adrian's cousin Carina (one of my bridesmaids in our wedding). She never wanted to put Mia down. She even bought her a cute little audio/book set so we can sit down with her with different books and listen to someone read them to her. It was really nice! Everyone fell in love with her, especially her little cousin Adan (almost 2) he wouldn't leave her side. He always wanted to hold her little hand and give her kissies on her cheeks. After a wonderful visit it was time to go home. She slept most of the way which was awesome! (Both times to be exact) so the trip went as smooth as glass. What a good baby!

The next morning we had our own little Christmas. Just the three of us. We set up the movie camera and filmed the whole event. We sang our traditional holiday song and opened the presents. Adrian and I took turns holding Mia while we got to watch her attempt to open her presents. It was so much fun watching her enjoy a new toy Santa or Mama and Daddy bought her! We also took a lot of pictures while I will post when I can. After all present were opened, she got tired and went down for a nap... so did her Mama and Daddy. We were planning on leaving the house at 2pm so we could drive out to Oxnard to be with my family but we overslept!!! So we got up in a rush and ran around the house like headless chickens trying to get things together so we could leave. We left a good few hours behind schedule, but it was ok, especially for the fact that it was storming so bad.

She did great on the trip to Oxnard. She slept 90% of the way and didn't fuss once! that was a first! I was so proud of her. We finally got to my parents house about 7pm and were quickly greeted by her Grandma and Grandpa, Auntie Lauren, Uncle Jay and cousins Tracy, Sarah and April. Everyone was excited to see Mia and she was all dolled up as usual.. in her little Santa Baby outfit (yes I washed it when we were home so it was clean! haha) We sat down for dinner and opened presents soon after. Mia was literally showed with presents from everyone. She sure made out like a bandit! She got tons of new clothes including warm jammies, dresses, and a cute little outfit with jeans! She even got new bows of her hair, teething ring shaped like a cow, warm mist humidifier, play mat surf board and a HUGE toy that she can play with when she learns to sit up and stand. It kind of hard to describe and I am really tired... but trust me it was cute! She always got a toy that makes sounds when you roll it so she can learn to crawl after it. She did great, we all had a great time and got some really nice gifts. Especially the one from my parents, which was a big digital photo frame that holds 4,000 pictures!!!!! I already know how I will be filling that up! We got some really nice sets of glasses so we are set again.. no more drinking out of coffee cups and jars! haha Anyways, the festivities lasted to the wee hours of the night and little Mia hung in there like a champ. She was giggly and though extremely tired she never fussed. Eventually she got hungry and after drinking her bottle she knocked out and wouldn't wake up! Even with all the noise and screaming of my excited nieces.. she didn't budge. (this was around 10:30pm.. she has never EVER stayed up that late before. She is always in bed no later than 8) So we set her playpen up in the spare room, got her music going and night light, toys and blankets and we put her down. She knocked out and didn’t budge again till 7am!
When she woke up, she was in a great mood. I played with her a bit till she got tired and went back down for another nap 2 hours later. She ended up sleeping for a little over 3 hours! and was so tired she was sleeping with her tiny mouth open! A rare sight! especially for a midday nap. After she woke up, she ate her lunch and her Grandpa Pizano got to really play and spend some quality time with her on her blankey on the floor. Unfortunately her Grandma had to work so she couldn't be there. After visiting for awhile we took off to her Auntie Lauren and Uncle Jay's house so Adrian could fix their computer and install the new parts we got them for xmas. We spend most of the day there and had a really nice time catching up, and having fun. We had a blast watching my nieces (Tracy and Sarah) play with their new Wii. Even Mia was laughing and screaming while watching her big cousin Sarah going nuts while playing the boxing game. She’s not even 6 months and already a cheerleader... she a natural! haha We had a great visit and left a little later than we planned. Due to her last visit on Thanksgiving and how she really didn't like traveling in the dark we didn't want to leave to late, however, we were having such a good time... time just flew by anyways. So it was already dark by the time we left..uh-oh. But she did awesome. She knocked out before we even reached the end of their block!!! She didn't wake up till we were about 30 mins from the house! A new record! She did get a little fussy but it was mainly cuz she was tired.

When we finally made it home, it was pretty cold in the house so I treated her to a warm bottle (I usually give her room temp. ones but I made an exception tonight since she was such a good baby). After that she went right down for the night.

Wow what a crazy couple of days! But it was great. Watching her enjoy her family and Christmas was the best present I could have ever received! I can't wait for the many holidays in her future. They will just get better and better.

24 Weeks old and so many new things!

Current mood: tired

Well here is her weekly update! Unfortunately I am extremely tired from the past couple of days so I will only really highlight her big events. Luckily, I have written about most of them already!

This week held many new events and firsts! It started off with her shopping for her first Christmas tree! She not only shopped for it, she seriously picked it out! She got to experience that whole thing and it was a ton of fun. She even got to meet Santa for the first time this week and took a picture with him. She also celebrated the grand daddy of all holidays.. Christmas! She spent Xmas Eve down south with her Cardoso Family and Christmas morning at home with her Mama and Daddy opening gifts and Christmas night with her Pizano family in Oxnard! She did great! She never fussed and really enjoyed herself. She even slept for most of the car rides! A HUGE first! She was showed with tons of gifts from everyone and had a really good time!
She also started rolling around consistently this week; however, this seemed to have temporarily stopped for some reason. Not sure why, but she was doing it a lot earlier this week. She even crashed into the pine cone basket I have near the fireplace!

Her constipation is FINALLY showing signs of clearing up. Thank goodness... guess the prune juice IS doing the trick! =).. speaking of which... that happened to be her first juice ever! She is doing good though, she drinks it, and luckily for us all its only an 1oz a day! haha
Also another big thing happened. Its still up in the air if it counts or not but... Mia said her first word!!!! It happened the day after Christmas, while playing on the ground with her Mama. Her Grandpa Pizano was on the couch and Daddy was also in the living room when it happened. She was having a good ol' time on the floor with her toys, cooing and screaming when out of no where.... as clear as day.. she said ... "Ya!" Immediately we all stopped and in shock asked ourselves... did she just say "ya?" It sounded just like it would if she intended to say it. It was cute to hear it in her little voice.. it was clear and she did say it. Adrian and I still are deciding if we are going to count that as her first word... probably not only because it wasn't completely intended, but yet it was so clear. The courts are still out on that verdict!...

She is growing so fast and doing so many new things. Every week holds new experiences and events for us all. I can't wait to see what the next week holds.. especially since we will be ringing in the new year together... 2009 look out because here comes Mia!

Mia on the move AND meeting Santa!

Current mood: accomplished

Today was an extra special day and for two reasons! One, she has finally learned to keep rolling over and over consistently! Prior to today, whenever she would roll over on her tummy she would get stuck and cry. Rarely would she roll back onto her back. However, today she decided to go rolling around and shocking Mama!

It started this morning. I would walk away from her for literally 30 seconds and when I would come back she would be in an entirely different area in the living room! She did this three times before I sat there and watched. Sure enough she was rolling. Mostly to her left side but she’s getting to where she wants to go. I noticed its usually when she wants something far away, like my snowman decoration or a towel on the floor. She will roll to it till she gets it. It’s really funny and cute. But now we have to keep an even bigger eye on her, we don't want her rolling away!!! We might start looking into a baby gate thingy to keep her enclosed! haha

The other big thing she did today was finally meeting Santa for the first time. Adrian and I have been planning on taking her to the mall to meet Santa for awhile but we just couldn't squeeze it into our busy days and with last weeks storms it was really hard to get out. Today we decided no matter what we would take her. Wouldn't you know, out of all the days it decided to storm AGAIN! well that didn't stop us, we bundled her up and off to the mall we went. There were TONS of kids everywhere and we literally stood in line for a good hour before it was our turn up! (She did great in line, she was asleep for most of it) So when it was almost time to see Santa we woke her up, got her all fixed up (mostly just consisting of making sure her shoes were still on her feet and her bow on straight) and off to Santa we went. I carried her to his lap and she didn't seem to mind. She was just in shock of all the noises and people around her. I don't even think she looked at Santa once, she just stared at all the people who were looking at her, with her mouth wide open. She wouldn't smile but the picture still came out cute! (of course!) Santa gave her a lollipop and I made her say hi to Santa and carried her away. Then we had to get in another line which took almost twice as long just to pick up the picture! but it was well worth it, that little picture is a priceless treasure and worth all the waiting! She did good in the mall. We picked up a few more xmas presents then off to home we went. It really started to pour so she got to experience that for the first time in a car too! She slept for most of the car ride home and now she’s in bed. She ate 6 oz!! Poor little thing was starving so I skipped her nightly bath and just fed her. Now she’s off to sleep with little sugar plums dancing in her head.
Ahhhh.... what a day!

Mia got her First Xmas Tree!

Current mood: impressed

We finally were able to get our Christmas Tree yesterday and Mia picked it out all by herself! I know most parents "pretend" or act like their kids/babies picked out stuff but Mia actually did. Here’s our little story of Mia and her Tree!

Due to our tight budget and the holidays fast approaching we decided not to go all out this year and buy a huge fancy tree. We heard that "Home Depot" were selling trees at pretty reasonable prices so we decided to go there instead of the usual tree lot we go to every year. When we got there I was disappointed. I wanted Mia's first Xmas tree shopping experience to be special. I expected what you see at usual tree places, you know, all the trees out on display in neat little rows and the ability to walk along the rows of trees and pick out the one you really like. This place just had them all tied up and thrown on the side. The size we wanted to get were all sold out and we would have to just pick out a bundled tree and assume it would look nice when you unraveled it at home. I have always been a fan of the douglas trees and the only dougs they had there were ugly! We almost ended up getting a noble tree when I decided this wasn't right. This was going to be Mia's first xmas and first tree, it needed to be special no matter what! So we decided to leave and hit the tree lot we always go to every year. They are a little more pricey but always have a good selection and customer service. Before we left, however, we did show Mia what a xmas tree looked like and Adrian broke off a little branch for her to hold. She studied it like every new thing we show her and then she tried to EAT IT! we quickly stopped her and just let her hold it. She carried that little branch all the way out and into the car. She refused to put it down, it was cute. That was the only thing we got from Home Depot. Then it was off to the good lot....

When we got there they had all the trees on display in nice little rows just like I wanted. The tree guy came up to us and let us know where the fresh new shipment trees where, where the dougs and nobles were and how much they were going for. So when he left, Adrian (who was holding Mia in his arms) and myself walked to the back where they kept their douglas trees. It was a bit of a walk but the smell of xmas trees was all around us. It really started feeling like Christmas time. Mia was looking all around at all the different trees. Then we reached the back and showed Mia a tree. It was a noble I believe. So she touched it and looked at it, then all of a sudden something caught her attention. She quickly turned her head around and looked behind her and with her little arm held it out in that direction. (She does this a lot). We didn't really notice the tree directly behind us but she did. So we went over to that tree. It was a douglas. I asked her "Do you like this tree Mia" and she grabbed on to it. Adrian and I both were like "Awwww". Then she really got a hold of it and gave the biggest Smile! Something she rarely does on by herself without us interacting with her. She wouldn't let go of that tree, and that smile just told us that, that was the tree we were taking home. She picked it out herself. She never smiled with any other tree but that one. It was really a nice looking tree. It wasn't a Charlie Brown tree at all! I glanced at the rest of the lot and yep, the tree she picked out was the best. So we took a few pictures with her and the tree and got the man to take it to our car for us. We paid for it and they mounted it on top of the Mazda and off we went to go back home. Mia fell asleep in the back still holding that little branch she took from Home Depot. It was really cute.

Once we got home, I set up the usual tree spot in the house while Adrian got the tree down and brought it inside. Mia watching the whole time. I put the xmas lights on it and garland and for the first time it was a perfect fit. Most years either our lights strand is so short for our tree or to long, same with the garland. But not this tree! It was a perfect fit for both! Good Job Mia Girl! She watched me decorate the tree while she played in her jump-a-roo next to me. It was really cute.That is the story of Mia and her First Xmas Tree!

Week 23 and growing like a tree!

Current mood: cheerful

Can these weeks slow down any?! It literally seems like yesterday that I wrote her weekly blog and yet here I am again... and there she is, another week older!
This week has gone by pretty smoothly with nothing much new to report, Surprisingly! She’s still being her ol' Mia self... playing on her play mat, jumping in her jump-a-roo and being her cute usual self as always. She has however, started this new thing. Its what I call her 'fake cough'. She isn't sick but she’s always coughing and she gets a kick out of the reaction I give her when she does it. I act like I am all shocked and she just laughs and smiles and coughs again. Its really cute.

She witness her first big rain storm this week and was always intrigued when I would bring her to the window to look out at the rain. Its my favorite time of the year so it was fun to get the fire place going and cozy up with Mia on the couch while watching our tv shows. She is out growing all her clothes so fast, that on super chilly days I just leave her in her warm jammies all day so that her legs and feet stay warm. She seems to like this, I think she sees it as some sort of treat!
She played her first interactive game with Mama this week too! She was sitting in her little vibrating papsan chair while I was getting her stuff ready for her nightly bath. There is this little bee that hangs above her head that she just LOVES to pull off and munch. This time I decided to play with her a little, whenever she would pull off that little bee, I would act all shocked and say 'Give me that Bee!!!' I would take it from her and hang it back up. She would pull it back off, look at me with a biggest smile like if to say 'Look at what I did Mama' so I would have to take it from her and put it back. We did this back and forth for a long time, each time she would grab the bee she would give me that smile with that look. It was really cute and fun.

The only bad thing that has happened this week is, she is still really constipated. We changed her formula to 'Good Start' and she seems to really like it. She drinks it better than she did the Similac Soy. Her consistent vomiting hasn't returned, however, her constipation has gotten worse. Now she is going longer without pooping and just recently (yesterday) when she did finally poop it caused her so much pain. I have never heard her cry out like that EVER. Even with her vaccinations she never cried as hard as she did when she was going to the bathroom. She had a really hard time.. poor baby. So I finally contacted her doc and let him know what was going on. He just got back to me now and said to give her an ounce of prune juice daily to help her along. He also gave me a regimen of how to up the dose if she doesn’t get better. I talked to my Sis in Law Lauren about this yesterday and she too recommended prune juice. So Adrian went to the store last night and picked up this tiny little bottle of baby prune juice. So I will give that to her after she wakes from her nap. Hopefully it will help. We are supposed to be getting our xmas tree today too later this afternoon so I am praying she doesn't decide to clean herself out there!!! Luckily the tree lot is only 5 mins from the house.

That’s about it, other than her little constipation problem everything is going good. I can't wait to xmas its just around the corner!! EEEK!

******** UPDATE**********

Well soon after I finished this blog Mia woke up and I decided to try that prune juice. So I busted out her little newborn bottle and poured an ounce in just like the doc ordered. We had the camera ready to see her reaction to her very first juice! She took the bottle right away and didn't seem to be bothered by the new taste. She didn't make any faces until we took it from her to check how much she ate... I guess it was the after taste because that’s the only time she sort of made a yuk face. But she finished it and drank her normal bottle afterwards. I guess it is all just a waiting game now... so far nothing has happened... we will see!

Mama to the Rescue!!!

Current mood: accomplished

Joys of Motherhood come in all forms, whether it be that 4am feeding that wakes you from a bliss-full much needed rest! Getting up in the middle of the night in the freezing house just to check on that "strange" noise coming through the baby monitor just to find that its really just the cat getting into something. To looking at your once clean and organized house change into something that looks like a tornado wept through and a atomic bomb full of baby clothes and diapers just exploded and your living room was ground zero! To the skipped lunches and dinners, showers, and free time all to make sure your little one is well fed, clean and happy. To me its all worth it! Just to see that my little one is happy and healthy is all I need. And when she flashes me that dimply smile or giggles at my attempts to make her laugh, just melt my heart and I wouldn't change anything, not one bit!

With that being said, I thought I would write little about what happened last night. I was extremely tired, each week has been beating me down more than the last. Its not all because of Mia but just with the holidays and preparations that need to be made, and other things going on I just haven’t had the change to even attempt to catch up on any rest. So last night, Adrian offered to take care of Mia for her early morning feeding and let me get some extra rest. Of course I jumped at the chance. I nestled down in my warm bed, had my heating blanket on toasting me up and just started to relax. I only got about a few hours of sleep till something startled me wake! It was Mia, and she was not happy! She was crying very hard. I jumped out of bed and went to check on her. Adrian told me he had just fed her and put her down but she refused to go to sleep. He told me to go back to bed and that he would take care of it. So I sleepily staggered back to bed, snuggled up with my favorite pillow and attempted to tune out her cries. They eventually stopped... ahhh... I can get some rest. WRONG! Now she started crying again and it wasn't just a cry it was a panic scream! So again I popped out of bed, went to her room to find Adrian attempting to console her. "I think it’s her teeth she’s been up for 2 hours now, she won’t go to sleep!" Adrian said. So I peeked over the crib, and saw Mia fussing and crying. Then she looked up at me with those big brown eyes and just smiled and started cooing! She was so happy to see me! I, knowing our nightly routine, grabbed her teething gel next to her bed, rubbed some on her gums and that seemed to make her a little happier. Adrian put her blanket on her, I said, "no no no you need to tuck her in just right, let me do it!" So I did what I do every night. I talked to her, explained that when Mr. Sun is in bed, she needs to be in bed too. I covered her up with her two little blankeys, making sure she had her favorite bedtime dolly was right in the middle of the two blankeys so she could play with it under the warm blanket. I placed her toys around her within arms reach so she could pick what she wanted to play with. Kissed her on the head and told her goodnight. I went back to bed and didn't hear a peep from her till the morning.. she finally fell asleep. That warmed my heart a bit, knowing that I am developing that Mama touch, and am able to calm her down when no one else can. Makes me feel, that maybe just maybe... I am doing things right =)

Well I thought it was a sweet story... well I am off for more Mama duties.. the little one needs a nap and is telling me that through her refusal to let me finish this blog and whining haha.. Joys of motherhood =)

22 weeks and going!

Current mood: amused

Yep, its Friday and that means another week has gone by! Since I wrote a HUGE blog yesterday covering everything that happened this past month (which includes this past week) I don't have much new to report. However, I do have a short story that happened that I will write about.

Well late yesterday evening, Mia was playing on her blanket I made her on the floor. (Its HUGE so we use it as a mat for her to play on). She was on her back playing quietly so I decided to start preparing her bottles for the night. I was talking to Adrian and heard Mia start whining like she does when she rolls on her tummy and gets stuck. I was almost done with what I was doing but got distracted because the whining stopped. Then I heard *THUMP* and a HUGE giggle from Mia. I ran over to see what was going on since I had not checked on her in a few mins. I found out what made her laugh! She had rolled completely over a few times and stopped when she got near the TV. I had a BIG stuffed animal, super soft, snowman decoration next to the TV. She managed to grab it and knock it over (which was the thump) and the action of it falling made her giggle! It was really cute. I quickly picked her up and played with her till bath time.

I thought this was a cute story and a good way to end another week!

She’s 5 months old Today!!!!

Current mood: happy

Yep, Yep, Yep my little one is 5 months old today! 1 month shy of the big 6! She still manages to amaze me every day I am with her. Between her changing and doing new things.. every day is a new adventure with surprises at every turn. I am enjoying her to the max, I couldn't be happier!
Ok so now on to the month. Well the beginning had a rough start. Not because of Mia or any fault of hers, but the fact that the day before she turned 4 months she had her second round of shots. Luckily for her, and us, she had no adverse reactions to them. YAY! She got through them just fine. Unfortunately, she still has one more round (In Jan.) before she gets that 6 month break. I am so looking forward to that break!

Well the month was filled with lots of excitement, adventures, and milestones! She finally learned to roll over on her own, and now never seems to stop! She does roll back but not as much as she would like. She often times gets stuck on her tummy and gets MAD! I also find her on her tummy when I go to get her in the morning. She usually wakes me up screaming and mad because she’s stuck on her tummy, I can't wait till she can consistently roll herself back. I also find her in all kinds of awkward positions when I get her up in the morning. Sometimes she’s completely upside down! She tries so hard to crawl, I can see her attempting to do it but she just can't quite get it down yet. She moves her butt in the air, tucks her feet under and pushes out, but she also ends up smashing her face in the ground and her arms go flat out to their sides. What amazes me is she keeps trying and trying and is really determined to get it down. She does do the "worm" a lot so she does get a little mobile but doesn't go far. The funniest thing is to watch her go flat on her tummy and she lifts up her arms straight out on her sides above the ground like she’s flying and with her feet in the air! With her determination and practice I know she will be crawling soon. She just has to get her arms to work with her legs. She always manages to work one set but not the other. When she’s on her tummy she can grab things and pull them towards her, and munch on things but she just hasn't learned to shift her weight yet. That will all come in time I am sure.

She also learned how to master her Jump-a-roo! She is finally tall enough to touch the ground unaided and she bounces and jumps so much now. Sometimes she goes nuts and the whole thing starts crashing around! She jumps so hard her little arms go flying in the air and she tilts her head back, like if she’s trying to jump out of the whole thing! Its really cute, and she loves to play in it. She often times can be left in her jump-a-roo for almost 45mins! She just jumps jumps jumps till she tires herself out and wants a nap. She recently (yesterday to be exact) learned how to spin in it now, so now she can spin and choose what toys she wants to play with. She has mastered them all, and gets bored a lot so its good she learned how to spin so she can try a new toy.

This month also consisted of Turkey Day!!! Yep, her first real official holiday! With that came her first big trip! That’s right she made the 3 hour trip to Oxnard to spend the Holiday with her Pizano side of the family. It was great seeing her with all her little cousins. She got all dolled up for pictures in her cute little dress and got to wear her turkey bib! She was great on the trip down to Oxnard but we had a little trouble coming back home. I think it was because we left a little late and it got dark early. She doesn't like the dark and refuses to sleep in the car so poor thing was scared. It’s ok though we all learned a lesson... don't travel Mia at night! haha She also spent her first night away from home. We all spent the night at my Brother and Sis-in-laws house. She did awesome and I owe a huge part of that being the fact big cousin April (almost 2) shared most of her baby stuff with her. So she felt right at home.

A few other little things she did or started doing are, she took her first 4 hour nap during the day! That’s amazing in itself since she usually hates taking naps during the day. Now it’s becoming more routine for her to sleep 2-3 hours during the day now (in her own crib) and I owe it all to the jump-a-roo! She’s finally learning to hit things with her hands. She has always been a kicker so she rarely would use her hands for anything other than grabbing toys and stuff. Now she’s learning to smash things and hit things. Once Adrian sat her on his lap as he played World of Warcraft on his computer. Mia decided she wanted to play and started hitting the keyboard and moving the character. She made him jump and spin in circles it was cute! She’s always splashing in the bathtub with her hands now too! That always drenches Mama more than when she splashes with her feet. Mainly because the hand she uses to splash most with is the hand facing Mama! Speaking of baths... she no longer uses her newborn hammock and since we retired it she’s having way more fun in the bath. She kicks and splashes more and is even playing with her small bath toys! Her starfish is her favorite..she munches on him the most!
She started teething more than ever this month too. One day it hit her so bad that she cried her first tears! That broke my heart so bad and I teared up right with her. We found the culprit (sp?) and it’s an upper canine tooth that is coming in. It hasn't broken though but I have been using baby orajel religiously now and it seems to keep her pain at bay.. however, she still cries at night but not enough to wake up completely. Poor little one.

She slept her first full night this month and skipped her morning feeding! She went to bed at 7pm and didn't wake up till 9!!!! That was a first. I usually force her to wake up if she doesn't wake up on her own by 5am (due to me not wanting her to sit in her wet diaper all night and get a rash and I know she has to be starving I have heard her tiny tummy rumble before when it goes to long between night feedings) but this time Mama fell asleep and didn't wake up at all either! She was fine though, no rashies!

She still laughs, but its still rare to get her to do it. Its like we can get her to crack up by doing one thing and after a few mins of doing it she doesn't care anymore and stops. Then you try it again at a later time and she just stares at you like if to day "ummm oooook, why are you doing that for?!" Yesterday though I got her to really bust up by doing the peek a boo game with her. It was only for that one time though because I keep trying to do it again and she just smiles but wont laugh. Sigh.... tough crowd! haha

She also started using this "evil voice". I am not sure why she does it, but she makes a mean face and sucks in air and it sounds really kind of scary! I got a few videos of it and its funny to watch, however, late at night when no one is home but us and its all dark hearing her do that when I get her up does kind of scare me! haha She does it all the time now, whether she’s playing or just hanging out.

She still loves her toes! She’s always putting them in her mouth still and shows no signs she wants to give that up yet. She also officially retired her binky too. She doesn't like it anymore and often times just plays with it or throws it. She prefers her toes or her two fingers.
She is getting so big now too! I need to weigh her again, but she is growing so long that she is out growing her 9month old clothes!!!!! She doesn't quit fill them out because she is so lean but its getting harder to snap them now. Her 6-9 month jammies are quickly getting retired due to the fact that her little toes are started to get all smashed up in the feet part. I have recently started dressing her in 12month clothes and they are almost fitting just right for her. In fact, My Sis-in-law, Lauren, gave me a bunch of clothes April grew out of and Mia is already starting to fit in some!!!!! She wore the 12 month old jammies last night and though they were a little roomie they actually fit! The dress she wore on T-Day was also 12 months and even then the dress part was a little shorter than I would have liked it to be. I think she will be tall, she is so long! She has long legs and a long torso.

She is starting to hold her bottle more too. We didn't quit hit the goal of having her hold it for a full feeding yet but we are getting close. The thing that makes it difficult is not that she can't do it, but she doesn't want to. She often times starts playing with it, pulling it in and out of her mouth over and over and spilling milk all over her face. She throws it too! The odd thing is, she only likes to hold it for long periods of time when its her bedtime feeding. Not sure why, maybe because all the lights and tv, noise, and things are off and she can really concentrate on holding it.
Speaking of feeding, we had to change her formula this month. She was doing good on her "Senstive Tummy" formula for a long time then all of a sudden she started throwing up.. and I mean like a lot! All the time and it wasn't just after a feeding it could be 2 hours after a feeding and she would throw up. So we decided to keep it in the Similac family and change it to Soy. This helped and she no longer throws up however she no longer poops either! She is always constipated and poor thing only goes tiny marbles or nuggets. We wanted to give her a good 2 weeks on this new formula to see if it would get better but it hasn't. So we decided to change it again, this time to a different brand altogether. "Good Start" is what we have, we haven't given it to her yet because her old formula isn't done yet but we are getting close. I will have to see how that goes, she has never had anything but Similac since she was born. Hopefully she will do good. Oh wait she did have Enfamil once but it gave her projectile vomit so we quickly stopped that.
Unfortunately the battle with her eczema hasn't gotten any better. I had to retire her good smelling johnson and johnson baby shampoo, soap, and lotion (including her bedtime lotion) and have switched her to Baby Aveeno. This has helped TONS but it doesn't have that nice smell with it. It really doesn't smell at all! I miss that baby smell! It does help a lot with her eczema but she still breaks out a lot on her feet, arms (opposite her elbows) and her face. Its more on top of her forehead now and she’s learned to scratch it. She now always has bleeding scratches on her face to where it’s been bothering her. It comes and goes though, some days are better than others. But her skin is extreeeeeeemly sensitive and I really have to be careful on the types of clothes and blankeys, and toys she has. Hopefully it will get better.

On to breastfeeding. Yep I am still doing that but am very seriously considering stopping soon. Though I don't really want to, I think it’s near the time I should. Every time it’s a battle with her and I mostly did it to help keep her "regular", but since this bought of constipation from her Soy formula, I have seen my breast milk isn't helping clean her out. She isn't getting enough and I think it’s mainly because she’s refusing it more now. She cries a lot and again it’s a battle 97% of the time. Now she can officially start transition to semi-solids I might just stop. I don't know we will see. I still hate to give it up just yet, it’s the thing that I can give her no one else can and I will sure miss that bonding moment especially when it goes well. I have been doing it since she was born... it will be hard to let that go.

In Summary:

Feedings: I am still breastfeeding so it’s off a little, but she now hits 5 oz consistently. She rarely goes more than that, and sometimes can't even hit that. She’s never been a big eater. I wonder if that will change.

New Things: First trip to Oxnard, first time to sleep away from home, uses the jump-a-roo on her own, first holiday, rolled over, turning in bed, first 4 hour daytime nap, first time she slept a whole night, starting to use her hands to hit things, teething real bad, first streaming tears, no longer uses hammock in bathtub, and retired binky

Weight: 15 lbs *estimated from bathroom scale

Goals met from last month? Well as you read she didn't hit the bottle holding goal however she met all the others. She did make it to Oxnard for Turkey Day, she learned to roll over on the floor, and she does laugh a lot more but it’s still not consistent.

Goals for next month: Getting her to hold her own bottle consistently and for a full feeding, starting her on rice cereal and semi-solids aka baby food, taking her on more trips to San Diego and/or Oxnard, and getting her to roll back over more consistently instead of being stuck on her tummy

Lucky week 21!

Current mood: awake

Yep, its Friday again, and Mia puts another week under her baby belt. Things went pretty uneventful this week, especially when compared to the week before when Mia went to Oxnard for Thanksgiving. I think she needed some time off. However, this week isn't without some stories!

She is doing a couple of new funny things. One being, every morning now when I get her up for the day I find her in a new strange position in her crib. I lay her down the same way every night but in the morning she’s either all smashed up in the corner, totally upside town, or on her tummy. What a wiggle worm! I think she takes after Mama with that. Her favorite thing to do is to touch soft things so I often times catch her taking her fuzzy pink blankey or green Pooh blankey and gently rubbing her nose with it. It’s really cute, she puts herself to sleep that way.
The other funny thing, is she’s started to do her "evil Mia voice". I have no idea why she’s doing this now, but its kinda scary! haha. She sucks in air and makes a mean face, almost like she’s hissing! I caught her doing this on a video and even Adrian said "Oh my gosh she looks evil!" but she likes doing it and gets a kick out of it.

She’s loving her jump-a-roo more than ever now and she can finally jump unassisted since she can finally touch the ground!!! She goes completely nuts in it and its way to cute to watch. She jumps on her tippy toes, throws her hands in the air, and jumps over and over! She loves making the toys rattle, and whole thing crash up and down. She often stays in there for 30 mins on end just jump jump jumping till she tires herself out and goes down for a nap.

The formula change is finally getting better. Since we switched to soy she has stopped throwing up as much. Now she throws up only when Adrian and I play with her to much after she eats! She’s splattered us both on that haha ewww. The only concern we had was the fact she wasn't pooping right. Either they would be hard little nuggets or wouldn't go at all!!!! Earlier this week she FINALLY started going a little bit normal, but its still very little. We might be switching her again, but maybe to another brand. Possibly "Good Start" only because she isn't going like she used to. We will see how it goes.

Her teeth still bother her somewhat, but the orajel seems to be keeping the pain at bay. She actually lets me put it in her mouth but still makes the grossed out face afterwards. Maybe I will try to capture that on the camera sometime.

Her eczema still comes and goes. Recently she broke out again on her forehead, and this time it was really itchy for her. I know because she kept scratching her forehead till it bled =( Poor baby. I finally put some cortisone on it and the irritation seemed to have gone away, hopefully her scratches will too.

Well on a side note, this week did have a few unexpected and unfortunately things to have happen. Luckily, now that I have little Mia to brighten up my day... I don't find myself getting as down as I used to. This week my Aunt had major surgery to remove some breast cancer and that was stressful and scary for all of us. Luckily everything went well and she is recovering great! Then they had massive layoffs sweep thru Adrian job, and for two days we were uncertain Adrian would have a job! Talk about stressful and scary!!!! Thank God, he was untouched by the layoffs but we did hear about many of the people we both knew well, get laid off. Its a very sad time in that respect. But Adrian being safe is relieving.. however, there is rumor there will be more lay offs in Jan. I hope its just that a rumor but we will see. Then, poor Princess Mew Mew snuck outside without either of us noticing and she was left outside over night!!!! She has never been outside and unfortunately got into a cat fight with the neighbor’s cat and got beat up pretty bad. Fur was all over the backyard and when we found her, she was bleeding and limping. Poor baby.... she’s finally getting better now and her wounds are healing great. What a week, but like I mentioned before, having little Mia brighten up my day every day, really helped keep the stress and worry at bay. I love my little Angel.

Uh-oh Mia is calling me... I have to cut this short. Well overall the week has gone by really well. I can't wait till the up coming week, we will try to take her to meet Santa!! YAY! I will see how that goes!

The big week 20!

Current mood: exhausted

Yep little Mia is the big 20! She is 20 weeks today! So many big events happened this week but luckily.. I was pro active and already mentioned a few in an earlier blog this week. The other two huge events, her first Thanksgiving and first Oxnard trip are also separated into their own blogs so this one should not be so long. Which is good for me only because I am extremely tired.. this week really wore me out!

Well as you know little Mia is growing her first teeth! I noticed one big one for the first time this week and everyday it seems to be getting bigger and bigger. Even her Auntie Lauren got to see it! It should be popping out soon now since you can already see the outline. As exciting as this may be, it doesn't come without some heart ache. Little Mia is in constant pain due to this little tooth so we are constantly soothing her and I am always putting baby orajel in her mouth which seems to help a lot! Soon she will lose her cute little gumy smile and will have that little brand new tooth to show off!

She is constantly rolling over now and I can never keep her on her back every long. However, she also hates being on her tummy long so most of my time is spent rolling her back on her back as she rolled back on to her tummy and cries. Its still amusing since I know this stage will be short lived and be replaced with her crawling and me chasing! So as long as she can still stay put its fine by me! She has only rolled over completely back to her back a couple of times but it is rare and I often times find her sleeping on her side or tummy in bed now which really aggravates her when she wakes up.. like if "I"did it to her haha. Aye.. Little Mia girl what am I going to do with you!

She still goes nuts in her jump-a-roo and is finally getting the hang of the toys. I only have to show her once how to use certain toys and as smart as she is, she picks up how to do it herself right away. Especially the spinning rattly ones. She is almost at the point where she can fully touch the ground and won’t need that little extra cushion (a blanky I made for her while I was pregnant) to help her. Whenever she goes nuts she reminds me of a ballerina or a tap dancer the way her feet and legs go nuts! Its really cute to watch!

We had our little Thanksgiving this week along with the big official family one. Both went very well and we had a great time. I will have to upload the pictures as soon as I can.

Another big thing is we finally switched formulas with her, due to her throwing up so much. Since she has always been on Similac we decided to keep it in that family and switched her to soy. The throwing up has stopped but so has her pooping! Uh-oh. It took her 3 days (which she usually goes everyday) before she managed to push out a rasin sized rock hard nugget. Poor baby! Yep she’s constipated. We have been keeping an eye out on her and she is still laying her tiny little nuggets which isn't good. She never poops like that so it is a bit concerning but after talking to my Sis in law (mother of 3) and my dad; they have put my mind at ease and say that she should be getting back to her mushy normal self soon once her tiny body fully adjusts to the change. So far she’s still a nugget layer and we switched her formula on Tuesday. I am only going to give it till Monday before I contact her Doc and let him know what’s going on.. if she’s still laying tiny nuggets here and there. She doesn't seem in to much pain, only when she goes.. and her stomach is still soft to the touch so it hasn't gotten to bad yet. I will have to keep you updated on how that is going. My poor little Mc Nugget layer.

Oh and I almost forgot to mention that she slept her first full night on Wednesday! She didn't even wake up for her usual 4am feeding, and since Mama was knocked out for once I didn't wake her up. She went to bed a little before 8pm and slept all the way till 9 the next morning!!!! What a sleeper! We usually don't let her go that long since her tiny little body needs its food during the night and we don't like her sitting in her dirty diaper that long but that day was an exception. Mostly because Mama was extremely tired and didn't wake up herself haha. And Daddy was at work all night in San Diego. But I thought I would mention that little milestone!

That’s about it, she is growing so much and changing so fast I can hardly keep up! Every day is a joy to spend with her and everyday I thank God for the time I get to spend with her...I know one day (most likely in Jan.) I will have to go back to work so I cherish these times and really live everyday to the fullest with her. My little baby girl, I love her so much!

Mia’s Fist Gobble Gobble Day!!!!

Current mood: exhausted
Phew, what a day! …. Errr… better yet.. what a week!!!! I am going to separate her weekly update from her Thanksgiving blog since I imagine both are going to be so long. So here is all about her first Thanksgiving! And first trip to Oxnard!!!!

Since it was my year to spend Thanksgiving with my family in Oxnard, Adrian and I have been preparing both mentally and watching the baby to see how she responds to car rides. She has taken a couple of trips to San Diego and a few around town. Every trip she seems to be getting better and better so our confidence level was really high that this epic Oxnard trip will go well.

Well the big day came, and off we went to Oxnard. This year, Thanksgiving would be held at my brother and sis in laws house (also in Oxnard). This was great especially for the fact that my youngest niece (April) is a little under two and so still has all her baby things around for little cousin Mia to borrow. Plus she also had big cousins Tracy and Sarah to watch over her. So we packed the car up to the max.. it looked like we would be staying for a month with all the stuff we had packed. (As you can probably tell it was ME who packed.. I am notorious for over packing… hey I just want to be prepared for everything and anything!) Our plans were only to stay the night, and leave semi early the next day since Adrian had to go into work. So before we loaded up the car I made sure everything on my check list was checked off so I wouldn't forget anything. The list literally had over 30 things on it.. .and that was just for the baby alone! Once we were all packed up we were off on our little adventure. Mia was doing great… no fussiness and she even fell asleep on the road once we hit the 15 freeway! (about 15mins from the house) She didn't wake up again still we were in Pasadena on the 210 freeway… a good hour from the house. After she woke up she was still doing good, just checking things out and looking around. She amused herself with some of her toys for a long while then she began to get a little whiny. We figured it was a good time to pull off and feed her, change her, and let her stretch her tiny legs. Not knowing the area to well, we decided errr… Adrian decided to pull off in Reseda (hometown of the Karate Kid haha) I wanted to exit DeSoto since I was a tiny bit familiar with the area since I bought my Wedding dress in Woodland hills, but since Adrian the driver he got to pick.. so off we exited on Reseda. BIG MISTAKE! There was nothing but houses and house and more houses. We couldn't find a gas station anywhere or even a store at that! The baby started really getting fussy but we had traveled to far to turn around and get back on the freeway! FINALLY we found a Chevron Gas Station and pulled off. Since the trunk was over packed we had no place to change poor little Mia girl. So I scoped out the restrooms but they didn't have a baby changing table..grrrr!!! So I set up a make shift changing place in the back seat of my car. Mia got a kick out of this and started smiling and singing like crazy. I got her all situated and busted out a bottle and we fed her. Everything went well, and we were still doing good on time, and soon were back on the freeway. It wasn't until it started to get dark that Mia started getting a little whiny and fussy. She hates the dark and is never in it. She always sleeps with the nightlight and when dark fall hits, all the lights in the house go on. So she was scared.. poor thing, but by then were already in Simi Valley and close to our destination. She eventually fell asleep again around the Moorpark area and we made it to my Bro's house just as she woke up.

When we got there were greeted by all her excited little cousins and Auntie Lauren. It was so awesome to see them all together and to be around family again. My bro soon came out and they all got to see the baby as Adrian and I unloaded the car. Soon my Grandpa Pizano showed up and got to meet his baby great granddaughter for the first time! He kept complimenting how pretty she was and how beautiful she was and just couldn't get over her. I took her back to Baby Cousin April's room and got Mia all dolled up in her new fancy poofy dress and dress shows for pictures. Unfortunately her little tights had feet holes in them (they were bought like that… never saw that before) so Cousin April let her borrow hers (cute huh?!) so once she was all ready all the cousins got together for a photo op! Soon my brother carried out the Turkey and Sis in Law Lauren set the table BEAUTIFULLY! It was so festive and really gave it that homey mood. (I wish I had that kind of talent) So off for Turkey pics! We took pics with the Turkey and it almost time to dig right in. My Mom and Dad showed up with even more food and we all got to finally dig in for some good eats! Alas… another Mother moment hit. Mia didn't like her dress and due to it being not of 100% cotton it was irrigating her delicate skin. I didn't want her to break out in more eczema so before I could eat I whisked her off to get her changed into something more comfortable… what could be more comfy than her Chicky Jammies!!! So I got her all set up and Adrian took her over so I could eat. It was already past her bedtime so she was really tired and couldn't be left alone to play. After I was done eating I took the baby back. THANK GOODNESS! Again, that Baby Cousin April had so much to share with Mia… especially her play pen. So Auntie Lauren and I set up April's play pen for Mia in their spare room and I busted out all her night time things.. ie. Her night time dolly she sleeps with, her favorite toy (little green alien), her binky, her night light, her favorite teething toy and her special blankeys, and her boom box with her fav. CD. I laid her down, and Lauren set up the baby monitor and off to dream land Mia went. At first she kept playing but eventually quieted down and fell asleep. YAY! Mia's first Thanksgiving was a success!!! Unfortunately by the time I got Mia all situated for bed, dinner was over and my Grandpa had to go. I didn't get to visit much but promised I would make it up later. Then Mia's Grandpa and Grandma Pizano also had to leave. They each took a little special time to sneak into the baby's room and say goodnight to her. Mia did wake up a few times but with nothing but smiles and kicks and went back to sleep. Once the family left, I threw on my own Jammies while Adrian (a computer tech 24/7) decided to dive into my bro's computer (which Adrian build himself about 4 years ago as a wedding present) take it apart in attempts to find out what was wrong with it. (They had been having problems with it for awhile). So, during this time Lauren, my Bro, Adrian and I all got to do some catching up. It was great… especially since I rarely get to see them as much as I want to. I finally started tuckering out and at about 1am we all decided to hit the sack. Tracy and Sarah graciously gave up their comfy beds so that Adrian and I could sleep in them while they got to sleep in Mommy and Daddys bed!! It was cute, sleeping in their pink room with all these fairy and princess stuff all around. I felt like a little kid again and all those grown up worries melted away as I laid in princess printed sheets surrounded by thousands of stuffed animals… oh and not to mention the cutest kitty in the world "Gus" aka "Guss Guss" who literally curled up on my arm and slept with me till Adrian went to bed. Then slept at the foot of his bed the rest of the night. At about 7 I woke up and I knew the baby would be awake soon and I wanted to be up and fully awake for her incase she woke up scared since for the very first time in her tiny little life (other than the hospital) she slept somewhere else besides home! Oh I almost forgot to mention… right before we went to bed Mia woke up! She was hungry needed to be changed so Adrian took care of her while I got some much needed rest.. what a saint!

When 7:30 rolled around I snuck over to her room next door, slowly creaked opened the door and peeked inside. I was expecting to find her knocked out since I didn't hear a peep out of her on the monitor but to my surprise I found her playing with her dolly quietly. When she saw me she gave me the biggest smile!!!! And started going nuts! It was really cute! I got her up and she quickly noticed she wasn't home. We have a routine in the morning, I always walk her to her window, open the blinds and we greet Mr. Sun together.. then walk over to her pictures on the walls and saw hi to "herself" then take her downstairs. This time since she wasn't home we couldn't do that and I think she noticed. She kept looking around like "where am I?!?!" but she was good about it. I think she was happy just to see Mama. So we went to the living room as everyone else in the house snoozed away. I fixed her breakfast and we watched TV and played on the playmate till she was greet with her Cousins and Auntie! It was a great day.. not only was I able to see my darling little nieces again and play with them… but also got to catch up with my Bro and Sis which was a real treat. We all chowed down on left over’s and just had a good time. They really got to spend some quality time with little Mia and she was on her best behavior. She even took a nap without a fuss! My bro got to feed her a couple of times and she even attempted to spit up all over him, but Mama was there to quickly wip out a burpie cloth and catch it! (I am getting to good at this haha it wasn't easy but came with tons of practice!) Both Lauren and my Bro got a kick out of Mia, and for a while there seemed like we traded kids! As I spent time with my nieces bonding with them, they got to bond with little Mia. She only had 1 meltdown and it was because she went down for her second nap of the day, rolled over, and got stuck on her tummy. This panicked her so it was Mama to the rescue. Soon I got her calmed down but she never did take that nap till Auntie Lauren took her and worked her magic on her. Before we knew it, she was fast asleep.. more like knocked out! In Laurens arms. She looked so happy and peaceful laying there all wrapped up and arms spread out. It was too cute! Anyways, soon it was time to head back home so we loaded up the car, said our hard to say byes and on the road we went.. again.

We figured since she was so good on the way there that it would a cinch to get back home… WRONG! Since we left a little later than planned (We were just having to much of a good time) it got dark quickly and once night hit Mia was scared and cried most of the way home. We ended up making 3 stops (1 for a pee pee diaper, 1 for a poopie, and 1 for a meltdown/diaper change) along the way. Our usual 2 hour trip turned into almost a 4 hour trip (no we didn't hit any traffic) it was because of those stops. She only slept a tiny bit in the car and was awake most of the ride crying. She only really calmed down when I (who sat in the back with her) talked to her and sang her favorite little "Ducky" song (which I literally had to sing over and over and over 100 times!) Soon she finally fell asleep but of course only when there was only about 20 mins left in our trip! Once we reached home she woke up and was still a little grumpy. It was a little past her bedtime but I decided to attempt to get her back into her routine and gave her a bath anyways to help her relax. It really seemed to work too because she went totally NUTS in the bath! She splashed like she never splashed before. I guess from being all cramped in her car seat for that long, it felt good to kick again. So she hit and kicked the water all over, smiling the whole time! I let her stay in her tub playing till the water started getting to cold for my liking then out of the tub she went. I got her ready to for bed, fed her dinner and whisked her away to her bed. It seemed like she knew it was her bed because she got soooo excited once I laid her down. She began singing and kicking and smiling so big. I kissed her goodnight and off to dream land she went….

Phew we did it!! Her first official holiday! AND first time to Oxnard! Adrian and I are extremely worn out now and I am off to bed once I get this all posted. Unfortunately, Adrian has to work tonight but gets to work from home so that will help a little. He doesn't get off till 5am. I will try to spoil him extra tomorrow for being so wonderful and for all he does for me and the little one. Well that's about it! Overall it was a great holiday and I am looking forward for the many new ones to come! Gobble Gobble!!

Teething, tears, and Turkey!

Current mood: exhausted

I usually write at the end of the week about Mia's progress but since I think I will be a bit busy, what with Turkey Day and being out of town, I thought I would get a jump on some new things that happened so far this week.

Unfortunately the time has officially come. As months of prep work, Mia is officially teething. Sunday the 23rd she had her first real pain attack. She was fine at first but towards mid-day she became really fussy. I attempted to put her down for a nap but she wanted nothing to do with that and cried. I thought maybe it was her teeth so I grabbed some of her baby orajel and rubbed her gums with it. She had a tiny bump on her lower canine from before (about a month ago) but it was still tiny. Then I rubbed some up top and found the culprit! There was a HUGE! tooth bump on her upper left hand side canine. When I touched it she squirmed so I know it was bothering her, plus when I turned on the light to get a better look it was all red and inflamed. So I figured the orajel would help... WRONG! she still cried out. So finally I gave in and pulled her out of her crib and decided to try to get her to sleep on me (which is a rare treat) just so she could get her much needed rest. Thats when it hit! She began to scream and cry like I have never heard her do since she was a tiny newborn. I did everything I could for her, walked her around, cuddled her, rocked her, played with her, talked to her, nothing worked she just melted down. Finally I managed to get her to fall asleep in my arms and I thought, phew finally she will get some rest and wake up better. WRONG! a little less than an hour later she woke up and she was screaming and crying again. This time Adrian was up (she had woke him up earlier from her melt down) and he tried to console her. He did all the things I tried but she just got worse. Then I looked at her and she had her first real tears come out and roll down her cheeks! This broke my heart and I started tearing up. There was nothing we could do, this little one didn't feel good at all! More tears came out and I finally couldn't stand it, the mother instinct couldn't be held back anymore, I took her from Adrian and walked her around the house talking to her. She would calm down for a bit then let out this shriek and scream and cry again. Then I took her to the rocking chair and finally was able to calm her down by talking to her and holding her. She began to feel better and was manageable for a bit then it hit again and she started screaming and crying. So I decided since it was already getting late to give her an early bath and put her to bed early. When I put her in her bath, which is LOVES, she didn't even enjoy it. She just sat there all sad. She never kicked (a first) and her little legs just floated there. I gave her some of her bath toys but she didn't want them. So I cleaned her up and took her out, got her ready for bed and gave her dinner. I laid her down and she seemed to be ok, but 15mins later she started screaming again. I went upstairs and rubbed some more orajel on her gums and that seemed to do the trick, she went right to sleep and didn't move for 10 hours . By her night time feeding at 4am she was much better and like her old self. This was reassuring and by morning she was great. Well here we go... its officially teething time!

Well yesterday, we decided to have our little family T-day. (We have them early since we spend the real T-Days with family and would have no time for our own). Luckily the baby was great in the morning and allowed me to cook. I cooked our turkey (which I usually do, this was my 4-5 turkey), stuffing (My Grandma Pizano's recipe), mashed potatoes, corn and bisquets. We had pumpkin pie too! So once everything was done I woke up Adrian so he could watch the baby for me while I prep'd the table. I asked him to dress her in her dress for me and I later found them struggling on the couch... hahah... it was really cute. Adrian doesn't dress the baby much so it was quite amusing to see him trying to get a dress on Mia. First he put it on without its undershirt part so had to take it off, then he put the undershirt part on backwards and had to take it off, then he put it all on but couldn't find the buttons. Soon he had Mia across his knees in the super baby position trying to button it, it was too funny. Anyways she was all set to go, I had to attempt to calm down her happy hair and put a bow in and her turkey bib then it was picture time. It was funny trying to get the camera timer to work so we could get a family picture together, and trying to take Mia's turkey pictures. She even decided to kick the turkey because Mama held her too close to it. It was a funny disaster but well worth it. So it was time to eat and put Mia to play with her things. So after prepping everything, cooking the Turkey for 10 hours and all the hard work I put in to make this meal it was FINALLY time to eat! As soon as we started to chow down, Mia had other plans and decided she did not want to be left alone and play and started crying. So welcome Motherhood, there I was after all that work I was up and down with Mia every 2 mins and my food got cold. But at least I got a few bites of hot food haha. Don't think Adrian didn't help out, he was up and down with her as well so we both had cold food. Aye little Mia Girl! So after dinner, I held the baby and she fell asleep for her nap. With the mix of being up early with the baby and Turkey AND having such a rough teething day before AND having just eaten turkey I was so exhausted. All I wanted to do was lay down but the little one was in my arms so I couldn't put her down (she wakes up) she needed a nap bad. So I waited and about 45mins later she woke up and Adrian took her over so I could get some well earned rest. I woke up about 2 hours later and off for more Mama duties I went. The rest of the night went pretty uneventful and she went down to bed pretty easy. Phew... what a day! Our first official Family Turkey day!! Awww...

Well today is going pretty well. She is down for a nap so I am trying to run around and get some stuff done and prep for our big trip this Thursday when we attempt to make it all the way to Oxnard for Thanksgiving! We will see how that goes. I am sure I will write more when I can. Gobble Gobble!!!!

Week 19... her last "teen" week!

Current mood: awake

Here we are, another week older and more to report. Just when I think things will finally quiet down and nothing new will happen to write about at the end of the week, BAM Mia decides to do something to surprise us all!!!

The week started off really well. She took her longest afternoon nap ever! By herself in her crib that is (which is hard to do since she’s a notorious cat napper and hates sleeping alone during the day). She slept for 4 hours one day! I was worried she wouldn't go to sleep at night since she woke up at 9am and went down for that epic nap at around 11 and didn’t get up till 3! but we had no trouble. She still got sleepy at her usual bedtime and off to dreamland she went without a fuss. I guess she is going through another growth spurt, especially for her to sleep that much. She was knocked out too, I even took pics of her with the flash and she didn't even flinch! haha My little sleeping beauty!

The HUGE!!! thing that happened this week was she finally learned how to roll over unassisted on the floor!!! She had been practicing and practicing till finally she got it! Of course it was when Adrian and I were crossing paths and just happened to not be watching her! Literally no more than a min. Now she does it all the time, I can't get her to stop! Whenever I lay her on the floor on her play mat the first thing she does and roll onto her belly. She gets all excited and plays then decides she hates it and cries so I have to go over there and roll her back, then a second later there she goes again, back to her tummy and cries! Aye Mia Girl! Haha I don't mind though, I have fun every min. with her. However, yesterday she actually was able to roll back to her back again!!! She only did this a couple of times and I have yet to see her do it again, soon she will be rolling all around! Just like her Mama at that age (I wasn't a crawler I was a roller so I've been told). Yesterday she was also attempting to move her legs in a crawling motion! She managed to push herself on her play mat, but she hasn't mastered her arms yet so its more of belly slide at this point haha. My little one will be crawling in no time! She’s also rolling over in her crib and I often find her on her side when sleeping or belly. It’s very cute to see and unfortunately she is such a light sleeper I can't take pictures. The cutest time I think was the time I found her on her side cuddling her little pink dolly and sleeping.

Another big thing that happened is she is finally no longer using the newborn hammock in her bathtub during baths anymore. I kept using it though she was to big for it because the last time I attempted to not use it while bathing her and she had a big fit! She demanded to lay down when she was bathed haha. Now that she is bigger and more active and has found the art of splashing! and doesn't like laying down since she can't splash as well. So I finally retired that old hammock and she loves her bathes even more. The little tub she uses forces her to sit up so she has more leg room to kick and splash and boy does she. I end up drenched more than ever now but I don't mind, just seeing her play, smile, scream and laugh while splashing water all over is so worth it. She is still a kicking machine!

Speaking of kicking machine, now in the morning I can hear her kicking her bed crib like crazy. I am always awaken by THUMP THUMP TUMP while she plays in her crib. I can even hear it from downstairs!

She still loves her feet and I am constantly trying to pull her big toe out of her mouth but she always manages to find it again. Its really cute and I have taken a lot of pictures and videos of that to show her one day.

She also gets so excited she hyper ventilates now! I have no idea why she does that but she doesn't seem to be bothered by it.

Some update on her eczema problem. Well earlier this week it got BAD! poor thing had it all over her face, her forehead, cheeks, nose, and above her eyes. I finally contacted her doctor again and he advised me it would be ok to use cortisone on her face but only for 3 days at a time since it thins out the skin and can cause a white discoloration. Luckily I haven't needed to use it yet since the flare up has finally calmed down with the use of more aquafour lotion and not allowing her to lay on anything but 100% cotton things. I switched out all her blankeys to only the 100% cotton ones and that seems to be helping a ton! (I read somewhere that cotton is the best thing to use) Unfortunately there is no cure for her eczema (she inherited it from me.. but I have been in remission since I was about 10 years old) and she will continue to have outbreaks until her teens. So the best thing is preventive action for flare ups and so far I think I have found a good combo for her. Cotton and lotion, humidifier and more breast milk (I read it helps) and it seems to be doing the trick. She still has tiny flare ups here and there but the aquafour seems to be helping. I will keep you updated on that. Oh and her feet flared up again and I ended up needing the cortisone on them and now the flare up is gone but her feet are all discolored. Hopefully it will get better and back to normal soon. I will keep you updated on her progress.

Well Thanksgiving is just around the corner (next week to be exact) and two big things will be happening. It will be her first trip to Oxnard and her first time meeting her Great Grandpa Pizano. We are all looking forward to that. It will be held at my Brother and Sister-in-laws house so it will be great to see all the little cousins together! I just hope the drive to Oxnard will agree with Mia.... it’s her first big trip! (almost 3 hours away!) I will be writing about that soon. However, Adrian, Mia and I will be having our own little Cardoso Family Thanksgiving here at home either this weekend or Wednesday. We already got the turkey it’s a tiny 12 pounder and I realized, wow little Mia weighs more than the turkey!! Haha I will take tons of pictures I am sure and will be posting them like always. Due to the fact our families both live about 200 miles apart (Cardoso in San Diego and Pizano in Oxnard) it’s nearly impossible to have any little "Cardoso" (the three of us) family parties on the actual holidays themselves so we usually celebrate a day or two early. This has been happening for years now between Adrian and I so I expect to continue to do so, and it doesn't bother me I don't mind. Its more about together-ness than the actually physical day in my opinion. Anyways, Mia is calling me and its off for more Mama duties!

Joys of Fatherhood! haha tables turned!

Current mood: amused

Finally Mia decided to give her Daddy a run for his money. Something too funny happened last night that I decided to write a quick blog about it.

After putting the baby to bed last night, I was really tired. Since Adrian had the day off he offered to take care of the baby for her 4am feeding to give me a break. Of course I jumped at the chance to get a little extra sleep. So around 4am this is what happened according to Adrian and from what I saw.

He said when 4am rolled around and the baby was still knocked out, he decided to wake her up so he could feed her and then go to bed himself. He said she refused to wake up, he made noise, flushed the toilet (the bathroom is next to her room and is really loud), and even started changing her diaper. She just laid there all knocked out and barely moved.. then finally she decided to wake up and she was all smiles and talking like she always is. He changed her and prep'd her bottle. When he shook it to mix it, I woke up a little, then decided to stay in bed and drift back to sleep. Then I heard this HUGE rumble.. I recognized it right away being a California resident all my life.. yep EARTHQUAKE! I waited and sure enough here comes the shaking (it was really small though only a 4.6 or something like that) After it was done I got up to check on Adrian and the baby. He was feeding her on the chase upstairs next to the maste rbedroom. He said he heard and felt it too. The baby was sitting there happily eating. After seeing everything was fine, I decided to go back to bed and try to get that extra sleep I was promised haha. As soon as I climbed into bed I heard "Oh NO MIA!!! She’s throwing up!!!!" I jumped up "Do you have a burpie cloth?" "No!!" So I grabbed one that was in the bedroom and ran out to him but too late, he already started using my folded clean sheets I had on the chase waiting to be put away! Sigh.. haha She got it all over her jammies so she needed new ones. I couldn't just leave him there like that so I was on my way downstairs to grab some new clean jammies that were folded on the couch in the living room. As I was walking downstairs I heard a HUGE fart! and Adrian in a panic voice "Oh No Mia I think you went poopies!!! OMG that is such a nasty wet fart" I laughed and just told him to bring the baby downstairs so we could use her changing table and take care of her diaper and jammies in one shot. He brought her down, I went to the couch, grabbed her jammies and heard "Oh NOOO shes throwing up again!!!!" so I ran over and gave him a burpie cloth. Mia was all proud of herself and was talking and smiling. She thought it was the funniest thing. We cleaned her up and Adrian started to change her diaper. No poopies.. phew.. however half way through getting the new diaper on I noticed he took it off again and was examining it. I asked "what are you doing?", "I think she went pee pee can you tell?!" of course, leave it to Mama who changes 90% of her diapers and is a real expert I could tell just from feeling it that she was wet. It was unusually warm haha. So there went her new diaper (fasteners still unused) into the trash and on came a new one. It was funny watching Adrian struggle with trying to put her new jammies on. Finally she was all clean and dry and upstairs she went, and she was put to bed. I climbed into bed myself.. still attempting to capture some extra sleep but Mia had another plans. Due to all the ruckus she was wide awake and didn't want to be in bed. So there went Adrian doing what I do all the time, try to convince the little one to go to bed! Eventually about a good 45 mins I no longer heard the baby and Adrian finally was able to go to bed. Phew.. what a night. I found this all very amusing since Mia is always giving me a run for my money and this time Adrian finally got a dose of it! YAY! haha Joys of Fatherhood!

**** UPDATE***

This morning at around 9:30 I was nursing the baby on the couch. Things were going good. Adrian was in bed trying to catch up on some lost sleep when... rumble rumble rumble.. Uh-oh... yep another Earthquake rumbled through the house. It was also small and turned out to only be a 3.8 and was in the exact same spot as the 4am one (15 mins from Temecula). So I waited till Mia was done and we both went upstairs to check on Adrian who was awake. I asked him if he felt it and he said "Yea it shook the bed all over and woke me up, not to mention the cat flipping out, clawed the heck outta me and the bed and ran under it to hide" Haha poor guy! Well all is going good now. Adrian is finally back to sleep and little Mia is playing in her Jump-a-roo. Soon it will be her nap time and I think I will join her. What start to a day! haha

Rockin and Rolling!

Current mood: excited

SHE DID IT!!! She FINALLY rolled over all by herself on the floor! After trying and trying, last night she finally managed to roll over, however, her arm (though she finally did get it from under her) was still pinned to her side and she cried.

Then today she started trying again and again. Talk about a determined baby! Then it happened and of course Mama and Daddy missed it. She just had to wait for that exact moment where we had our eyes off of her.

What happened was this, she was laying on her mat on the floor and watching the football game with Daddy. (Yes, the Chargers lost...) I was cooking Caldio de Papa and was just about done. We needed some cheese so Adrian had to run off to the store, but he needed to shower first. So he asked me to watch the baby while he ran upstairs. So I covered my soup, lowered the flame and walked over to the living room to check on the baby and she was on her tummy!!!!! I was like "Oh my gosh oh my gosh Baby you did it!!" She looked up at me and smiled, screamed and was so happy and proud of herself. She was fully on her tummy and supporting herself with her hands. So I ran and grabbed the camera to take a couple of pictures, then she started crying. I picked her up, all excited and encouraging and celebrating but she kept crying. Then I noticed the smell.... yea she had a present for me in her diaper.. poopies!!!! No wonder why she didn't want to stay on her back haha. So I changed her cleaned her all up. Shared the story with Adrian then put her back on her mat and sure enough, she got the knack of it because she kept doing it over and over. However, she doesn't know how to get back so she starts crying and I have to roll her back on her back. She seems to get a kick out of rolling over though its really cute. I even uploaded a quick video of it. Anyways, its time for me to get her bath ready. I just had to share the story!!!