One Month

I can't believe it's been a month (well, more than a month now) since we brought home our precious little baby! It was great to have my mom here for five weeks and for the rest of my family, except Phillip and his family, visiting us for a week. I miss them all but it's nice to have my apartment back to normal :) Lily is doing great. She's a pretty mellow baby and a great sleeper, which Mommy appreciates A LOT! I love being a mom...getting to know her is the best! She is so cute! We blessed her while my family was here:

My mom and I made her dress...it turned out really good! Thanks for teaching me, Mom!

Lilia Laureen Gonzalez

It's been almost a week since the big day and I can't believe how time goes so slow and so fast at the same time! On Wednesday, July 13 at 4:41pm, Lilia Laureen came into the world. This came as a great surprise to us first because I thought I'd be late (my due date was July 18) and also because she's a girl! The ultrasound I had done at 20 weeks told us we were expecting a boy...interesting turn of events! Although it took a little getting used to emotionally, Faiver and I are both thrilled to have this beautiful, wonderful girl in our lives. She is such a joy to have around and I just want to stare at her all day. Faiver can hardly wait to get home from work so he can love on her and play with her. He's such a cute father!

I was in labor for 14 hours. I had decided long before that I would have a natural birth with no medication intervention. I had mentally prepared for this event and practiced my breathing through my Braxton-Hicks contractions. I had back labor, so I felt every contraction in my lower back and only tightening in my abdomen. This was so very painful!

I woke up around 2:00am with bad back pains. They were coming semi-regularly so I thought, "wow...I think I'm having back labor." I tried sleeping some more but it was impossible. At 4:00 I woke Faiver up and called my mom. She told me to call my doctor and then let her know what was going on. I wanted to time the contractions a little before calling the doctor, so Faiver timed them as I breathed through them. They were lasting 1-2 minutes about every 5 minutes. I called the doctor and she told me to go into the hospital to get checked. I didn't really think this was it though! I finished packing my suitcase and we headed for the hospital. I checked into the hospital at 6:00am. When I got there, I was checked and thenurses said I was at 5 centimeters and completely effaced. I thought, "hey, maybe this will gofaster than I thought." They set up the room for the delivery, hooked me up to the monitors and IV and said they'dcheck back soon. Faiver helped me breathe and stay calm as I had painful back contractions. He was so supportive and even cried with me a little! I was given pitocin to "improve"my contractions. That was not fun! At around 3:00, I was still at 5 1/2 centimeters. By use of an internal monitor, they could tell my contractions were strong enough, but for some reason I was stuck at 5 1/2 centimeters. The pain was more than I could take and I asked for an epidural. It seemed like an ETERNITY for the anesthesiologist to get to my room!! I was in the most pain I have ever been in in my life. As he was putting in the epidural, I suddenly got the urge to push. The nurse checked me and I was completely dilated! No wonder it hurt so bad...I dilated 5 centimeters in like 10 minutes!! I felt about 3 more bad contractions before the epidural kicked in. When it did, I was in heaven! It was nice because Icould feel enough pressure to know when I needed to push without having all that pain. I pushed for about an hour before our little miracle was delivered - relatively short time especially for a first pregnancy! Faiver was the first to notice she was a girl...we were all shocked!! However, she was healthy and strong which is what matters the most. She weighed 7lbs 13oz and was 20 inches long. She has some dark-brown hair and looks a lot like her father. She is beautiful! We are glad to be at home and to be parents. A new chapter of life has begun!

What a happy family!

a beautiful girl!

We pinked up her room a bit!

When routines get the better of us

Because of our work schedules, I usually give Faiver a ride to work and then pick him up at the end of the day. This routine has been going on since the beginning of May and it works out pretty well for us. Well, last Saturday, Faiver had to work (he works every other Saturday) but I didn't need to go anywhere, so he took the car and I stayed at home. On Saturdays, the bank closes at 3:00; it takes about 10-15 minutes for them to go through their closing procedures, so I expected him to be home around 3:20. Around 3:25, he still wasn't home...weird, but not too bad because sometimes he just has a busy day and it takes a little longer. Well, around 3:30 I got a phone call from him. He asked me why I hadn't come to pick him up...he had started walking home. I said, "honey, you have the car today." He had totally forgotten and walked 4 blocks!! We had a good laugh as he walked back to get the car. It was great! I love my wonderful hubby! :)

First Motherhood Scare

This kid isn't even out of me yet and he's already making me worry!! On Tuesday, he decided not to move as much as usual. I was nervous because I have heard that this is not a good sign. Faiver and I decided to give it one more day and see if he picked up his activity. Wednesday was only a little better, so I called my doctor's office. The nurse, after returning my phone call, told me to drink something sweet, lay on my left side and count movements. I should feel 10-15 in the next 30 minutes. She told me if not, then I should call her back. I did as she instructed and felt him move, but it wasn't as often as she said. I called back and left another message. While waiting, I laid down again and he moved more the 2nd half hour. She called back and said my doctor wanted me to go into Labor and Delivery at the hospital for some tests, just to make sure everything was ok. I was freaking out!! I went to get Faiver from work and we headed over to get me checked in. I was so scared!

We got there and the nurse took me into the room. I got changed and got into the bed to wait. As soon as I laid down, my sweet son decided it was time to move like crazy!! Argh!!! The nurse came in and I told her everything. She then informed me that I should be able to feel 6-10 movements in an hour! Big difference from what I was told earlier!! Oh, well. I was there and they hooked me up to the monitor that would check his heart rate and track his movements. Faiver and I waited for an hour before the nurse came back in. She said everything looked great and that the doctor said I could go home. Peace of mind is great, but I did not enjoy the moment of PANIC before receiving it! What a stinker :) but I love him anyway.

A finished room

Aiden's room is finally finished!! A special thanks to Carlos, Paola and my wonderful husband for making it look AMAZING!! Faiver and I put the finishing touches on it yesterday. We know Aiden won't be able to appreciate it for years to come, but we love it!

the taping process took them a long time

working on the tree that Paola designed

the finished product!

they even painted the dresser (it was blue and white)

I stuck the leaves to the wall - that was my contribution!

32 Weeks...plus updates

So, I don't often feel like I have that much to blog about. Work is good, my students drive me crazy sometimes, I'm still pregnant, life is pretty normal. I'm sure there are more details I can include, but that's my reasoning for why there is so much time between blog posts. I'm sure this is just an excuse, and the real reason is laziness :) So, I'm gonna write about a few things that have happened lately. Get excited!

On Saturday evening, my nephew Toby came to say with Faiver and me for the night. Nathaniel brought him over and visited for a bit before leaving. We had some friends over (see below as to why) and Toby had a great time entertaining himself and others for the rest of the evening. His favorite thing, for some odd reason, is when Faiver yells "bah" at him. He laughs and laughs and wants Faiver to do it over and over again. When it was time to get into bed, he wanted a bedtime story. He asked for the one about the Three Little Pigs, so I told it to him. Then he wanted the one about the ant. Well, I didn't know that story so he tried to tell it to me instead. This wasn't successful. We decided to leave it at that for the stories. I tucked him in and gave him a kiss and he fell right to sleep. He slept until 7:30 the next morning! When I went in to wake him up, he sat straight up in bed and said, "after breakfast we're going to church and then I'm going to see Grandma Di and Nana." He was in a great mood and I was relieved! Because there were three of us to get ready, Faiver helped by giving Toby a bath while I got ready. It was so cute! He asked me about every step of bath time. Great practice, huh? :) As we were getting ready to walk out the door to head to church, Toby started to say "I'm tired" which surprised me 'cause he had just slept for almost 12 hours! Then he proceeded to say, "My knee hurts. Which knee? My elbow hurts and I have to go to the bathroom." Hilarious! Out of the blue! (for those of you who have not seen "UP", I'm sorry and go watch it). He's a cute, smart, ornery kid and I love him to pieces!!

Carlos and Paola, some really good friends, were at our apartment a lot last week to help Faiver finish painting the baby's room. Carlos and Faiver did the painting, Paola did the designing, and I did the supervising :) It was loads of fun and seeing Faiver so excited has been a blast. They finally got it all finished on Saturday evening (pictures to come) and it looks phenomenal! I love it so much and I hope Aiden loves it one day too. We took lots of pictures so he can always see how much work Daddy and Carlos put into making his room look awesome. We're lucky we have landlords that let us paint!!

As for me, pregnancy is going well. I had another appointment today (every two weeks now) and my doctor says everything looks great! The baby's heartbeat sounded good, my weight gain is "better than great" (words from the doctor's mouth), and my uterus is measuring perfectly. I feel him moving so much now; it's an awesome feeling. Just started 32 weeks!! I can't believe how fast time has passed by. Faiver and I are so excited and a little overwhelmed as we get ready to welcome our baby boy into the world...as I'm sure every new parent is. Yay!

Holy Cow!! 6 months!!

Despite the long pauses between blog posts, I do enjoy blogging. Time just gets away from me.

In hubby news, Faiver is visiting his mission companion, Russell, in Texas for a few days. He calls me daily to tell me about the great fun that they are having. It's such a great time for him! I can't wait to see all the pictures he's been taking :) It's weird to be alone in my apartment, but I'm surviving ;) Sleep is good!! Also, Faiver applied for the lead teller position at the branch where he's working (Wells Fargo)....and he got it!! It's basically the same job, but with more responsibility, power and, of course, money. He's really excited about it, and I'm very proud of him.

In baby news, everything is going great! He's growing well and moving more strongly every day. It's such a weird thing to see my stomach moving because that little bundle of joy is doing whatever he wants in there! I'm now at 25 weeks, the very beginning of my 6th month. I'm feeling great and everyday we get more excited about meeting our little guy. The other night, before Faiver left for Texas, we were sitting on the couch talking about the coming week. Although very excited for his trip, my loving husband expressed how much he would miss me and the baby. He hugged me low (so his head was on my belly), laid there for a while and said, "ah, my family." It was the sweetest thing! He's so excited to be a dad.

With the end of the semester coming and our wedding anniversary coming up, it looks to be a great month!

my most recent picture