Laughter really is the best medicine!

I remember the first time my daughter smiled at me on purpose. I was sitting on the couch in the living room, and she was propped against my knees facing me. I just started making funny faces at her and she got the biggest smile on her face! It was one of the best moments in my life. Joy simply washed over me, and I was ecstatic! Now Lily smiles so much, but it never gets old!

About a month or so ago, she started laughing. It is the best sound in the world, but she's not very consistent! Daddy can make her laugh easier than I can, but even when we find something that makes her laugh, she'll do it two or three times and then she won't laugh again...she'll smile really big, but she won't laugh. Frustrating!!

This is the part I really wanted to write about: last night she laughed the most, longest and hardest ever, and I was the one to make it happen! She was in the same position as the first time she smiled on purpose (propped against my knees). I was sitting up straight and then got gradually closer to her face while saying "my little bugaboo." Oh my goodness it was amazing!!! I have no idea why it was so funny, but she just laughed and laughed. I probably did it for 5 minutes and she just loved it! Every time I think about it, it makes me so happy. So that's why I say laughter, especially baby laughter, is the best medicine.

Wiggle Worm

Lily likes to move, she likes to wiggle, she's always in motion. The only time I can really see that she's still is when she's sleeping, and that's because she's wrapped up like a burrito. Well, yesterday morning that all changed in my mind. I know that she kicks her legs when she's waking up because her blanket is often kicked off when I go in to get her in the mornings. However, I'm pretty sure she's getting to the stage where I won't be able to just lay her anywhere and know she'll stay put. Exhibit A:

Now, this may just look like a normal picture to you, but look closely...notice that the blanket is at the top of her head. That's because when I put her in bed, she was facing the opposite way! She did a complete 180 degree turn in her sleep!!! I couldn't believe it when I went in to check on her...everyday she does something to surprise me! :)

Daddy's Girl

At three months old, Lily's personality is starting to really show! She's a pretty mellow baby but can be super stubborn if she wants to be. She loves people and prefers them to toys. She'll watch them for much longer than she'll focus on objects. A few weeks ago, I was watching Kayson, my cousin Katie's son, while she and her hubby went to the U of U game. Lily just wanted to watch Kayson play with his toys (when she wasn't sleeping). She was very content to watch him :) She likes to sit up, and she kicks her legs like crazy! We can get her to laugh a little, but mostly she just graces us with huge, beautiful smiles. I'll never get tired of those beautiful smiles!! She has spent some time in her Johnny Jump Up and tolerates it, but I'm sure she'll like it more when she actually bounces it :) But most of all, Lily LOVES her daddy...she loves to hear him talk...she coos at him more than at me...he can make her laugh much easier than I can. Every time she realizes he's around, she stops whatever she's doing (even if she's in the middle of eating) to look at Daddy. It is so wonderful to see how much she loves him. Faiver is a great father, and I can see a beautiful relationship between them!

Smiles!

Lily is such a happy baby!! We are so lucky to have such a wonderful little princess in our house. This is how she looks in the morning when I come in to get her....

Well, usually she's still all the way inside her SwaddleMe, but you get the picture. I love her smiles and can't wait to hear her laugh!! I hope it comes soon :)

Two Months

Our darling Lily turned two months old on Tuesday. I went into her room to wake her up and she gave me the biggest smile! She is such a happy baby. We dropped Daddy off at work and went to the doctor's office. We got in pretty quickly. The nurse checked her weight, length and head...she weighs 11 pounds 5 ounces and is 23 inches long. Then the doctor came in to check her out, said she looked great (I know!) and we chatted a bit. Then the dreaded moment arrived...the nurse came back to give Lily her immunizations - 6 of them to be exact! 4 were shots and 2 were oral. She made a funny face with the oral ones...wonder what she thought (maybe, "hey, that's not Mommy's milk!!"). Then the nurses held her legs and I held her arms while they administered the shots - 2 in each leg. She was such a content little girl, just going with the flow, and then she got a surprised look on her face and started crying. Poor baby! I cuddled her and fed her and then she was ok. She's so brave!

She is such a joy in our lives. She "talks" to us a lot and gives us big smiles :) She has decided bath time is okay...no more crying in the bath! She sleeps through the night and stays awake for most of the day, except Sundays when she sleeps almost all day - she definitely understands "day of rest"!! She likes listening to music and sitting in her bouncy chair. She loves hearing Daddy's voice when he comes home from work. She has outgrown her newborn clothes but doesn't really fit into 0-3 month clothes yet (almost though). She makes funny faces and makes us laugh. We love you, Lily!!!

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!