Zara {Week 40}

At 40 weeks Zara is still teething but now she is getting her 5th & 6th teeth now. It's been a quick process but non the less a painful one, I am just glad we are getting this teething thing out of the way quick. I haven't been able to get a picture of her little teeth because she just closes her mouth any time I try to snap a shot. 

She is also standing on her own and she is oficially walking. She trips and stumbles a lot but that doesn't stop her to keep walking. 

Z is feeding herself now, we have moved from purees to solids, she loves eggs, soups, pasta, carrots, Zukini and chicken, beans and rice are also a big hit with her. 

This month we have seen a great increase in her attention spam, she actually pays attention to her music apps and watches through a whole song without drifting away to something else and she also started entertaining herself with toys. 

I try to speak as much spanish to her as I can and now I'm starting to see that she responds to a couple of words that we repeat over and over like, hug, kiss, sit down, come over, no thank you, let's go and water. Repetition ha worked very well with her and now she responds accordingly to each and every single one of these in both English and Spanish. 

She still loves being held a lot and has started to sleep through the night again in her crib.

Family photoshoot.

We are so blessed to be surrounded by great artists that we always have someone who can take our family portraits. This time my brother took our first family photos For my husband's birthday. We went to one of our favorite walking trails and snapped some shots of our little family. The same spot where shot our pregnancy announcement.

A photoshoot with an infant is everything but predictable. 

Zara did great, she was well rested and fed so she cooperated for the most part. It was just towards the end when she decided she no longer wanted to wear a bow and just wanted to pull my hair. 

We had a lot of fun. 

Christmas is around the corner and after we come back from our Thanksgiving weekend road trip we will go pick our Christmas tree & begin decorating.

Zara {Week 36}

Week 36 was a little tough, it seems like Zara is teething again and she is in more pain than she was when her two bottom teeth broke out. It breaks my heart when she is in pain but she is a tough little girl and even though she is uncomfortable she still goes through the day and is happy baby. Her upper teeth are poking out, we should see some new teeth in no time.

Now that Z is a pro at crawling and pulling her self up she likes to move around the house on her own and usually aims for the ONLY thing that it is not safe, the TV or the floor lamp or the dining room table, she has experienced a couple of bumps here and there but I guess that is just part of the whole independence experience. 

Also she ventures out to letting go with both arms and stands on her own for a couple seconds, but she still curls her toes so she is not staying up on her own just yet but enjoys walking while holding on to furniture and toys. 

Zara says mama, waves bye bye and makes fart noises with her mouth, it's very cute to watch her make silly noises and also imitates some of the noises we make. 

She has also learned how to make spit bubbles, she found it amusing and does it a lot.

This week Zara started giving some hugs and cuddles to us when we are holding her. Having her head rest on our shoulders and her little arms wrapped around us is priceless.

I am still nursing Zara for the most part but she is now accepting solids way better than before. Finger foods have been a success with her, specially sweet potatoes and shredded chicken.

Becoming "Mom"

As many of you know I traded my 9-5 job to become a 24/7 Stay At Home Mom when I gave birth to my first born back in February. 

So far it has been the BEST decision I have ever made. 

When I started blogging a couple of years ago I had just gotten married and I was on my last year of college and it was my way of recording my new season of life and a way to save memories that I can one day look back and re-live them again. 

As time passed by I found myself blogging less and less until we became pregnant, that's when I jumped back in to the blogging wagon once again but this time it was all about my growing belly, our baby's gender reveal, baby announcement and now that she is growing a monthly entry with her milestones and memories.

Now as I continue my journey to document my growing family I find myself

Reading blogs, online searching, and connecting with other moms over social media and I get this sense of comunity that I love. 

As a first time mom I welcome all the advice I can get, I may not agree with everything but it is always good to have both sides of the spectrum when it comes to taking a decision that will affect my daughter's life. 

So I am not a writer, I am not an expert, I am a stay at home mom who wants to make the most out of the resources I have and want to one day look back and remember how my life was back when we started our little family and if my anecdotes, honest mistakes and words of encouragement help a mom or future mom that's just a bonus.

Fall festivities

October marks the beginning of the Holiday season for us. We had been looking forward to celebrating Zara's first holidays with us even before she was born and we couldn't wait to take her to the pumpkin patch at the mall.

As usual, Zara enjoyed shouting at the kids that were running around and touching anything and everything she can get her tiny hands on. Although she is always too excited to sit still we were able to snap some pictures to remember the first pumpkin patch adventure.

A couple of days later, on Halloween morning I dressed her up as snow white and had an impromptu photo shoot in our living room before we headed out to spend the day watching people trick or treat at the mall and where she once again shouted at every kid who dashed through the stores getting their candy. 

Now that October is gone, we are looking forward to spending Thanksgiving in Vegas with the family, so stay tuned for more Holiday festivities.

Zara {32 Weeks}

        

8 months with Zara and every day is more eventful than the last. 

She started crawling this month which brought us a lot of joy but also a lot of baby proofing  around the house. But even with all the baby proofing and all the space she has she still manages to stand on any table or piece of furniture she can find.

It is a lot of fun to see her move on her own and explore a whole new world. 

As far as solids go we haven't had a lot of success with purees and formula she just doesn't like formula so I gave up on it and when it comes to textures she wasn't very excited about them either. This month we switched to finger foods which were a huge hit, egg yolks and cubed veggies are working great. 

Zara may not know how to communicate with words but she sure knows what she wants and how to let you know when something is not of her liking. 

Books and magazines are for taring and mouthing.

Music and dancing go very well together and she knows it. Every time we want a little bit of distraction we put some music on and it is a dancing party. 

Hide and seek is her favorite game, her face lights up when I shout "where is Zarita!?" And her little head pops out and screams. 

Zara loves dogs, sheis fearless and not very gentle with them but it is so cute to see her get excited when she sees a dog.

Zara {28 Weeks}

Zara is very active, she has always been but now that she can pull her self up she won't stop moving and wanting to go places. 

When she holds her self up in the crib and takes a hold of it she moves around the perimeter of the crib and let's herself down, sometimes gently others not so much. 

She's been on solids for about a month now, she is not a fan of peas but likes carrots and potatoes.

Z is such a happy baby, she smiles at strangers at the grocery store, yells at every kid that storms by and she wishes she could run with them. 

She likes being held a lot, not a lot of self soothing happens over here which makes chores a little close to impossible these days. 

Baths and any activity that involves water are a hit with her and with this triple digit weather we enjoy them even more so. 

Zara {24 weeks}

Happy Half Birthday baby!!!!

We did it, we have a half a year old little human

Zara is growing by the second, every day we wake up and see her she is taller and smarter and more beautiful.

She has been sitting on her own for quite a while now, and she has been starting to pull on anything that is close to her to pull her self up, its funny to see her try and fall time and time again but she never quits.

Zara is a morning person (thank God) every morning she wakes up with a huge smile. After naps she is do pumped up she starts jumping and she can't wait to eat the world.

This month her two bottom teeth made an appearance and although we had some rough night waking up with pain she is now all better, just reaching for anything that it is in her way to put in her mouth and sooth her gums.

Her conversations are getting louder and longer. We love talking to her as she stares in to our lips and tries to imitate the movements but of course she can't yet and instead coos and makes different sound.

She loves touching faces, more like slapping faces, so be aware of this, this is your only warning because it happens so fast and so hard.

After 6 months of being exclusively breastfed we start solid this month, it will be interesting, fun and messy but I am very excited to experience this new season of her life.

I couldn't end this post without showing my favorite side of our baby girl, she is full of joy and her personality is hilarious:

The best is yet to come.

Zara's Dedication

My husband and I both grew up in church. We got dedicated as babies and our parents did the impossible to instill in us the desire to serve and follow the Lord.
Now, that we are the ones with a baby of our own, we will do the impossible for her to grow up knowing and serving God and develop her God given potential.

Many times I imagined what it would be like when I had a baby of my own, how would I speak to her, how would I be able to teach her the ways of our Father, how would I be able to express how much her parents love serving God and His house and now that she is here I know that living my example is the answer. There is nothing I can say that would show her how important it is to follow Jesus than to demonstrate with our actions that He is the way, the truth and the light,

So a couple of weeks ago we dedicated her to the Lord. She was prayed for, my husband spoke over her and family and friends alongside the church were witnesses of this beautiful moment.

Zara {20 weeks}

Five months with our sweet baby today

We love her strong personality, at this young age we can already see glimpses of who she is. I love staying at home with her and observe every little change she goes through.

Zara has been rolling over a lot better this month. All that tummy time that she is not too fond of is paying of. 

She is always looking around every time we enter a new place.

Loves to smile when someone smiles at her and has loud conversations with dad when he gets home from work.

Jumping has been her favorite activity these days.
Zara has started to recognize familiar faces and gets very excited when she sees someone she recognizes.
Her bottom gums look a little swollen, so I am guessing she is teething, also because she has been fussier than usual and her night schedule has completely changed.

Going for walks in the carrier are still one of our favorite things to do together.

Every day I am amazed of how much she has grown in these five months that to me feel like five days.

Zara {16Weeks}

Month 4 has been a month of new discoveries.

Z found out it is fun to reach for her feet an suck on her big toe.

She has been able to sit up on her own for short periods of time. 

Tummy time is exciting for her now, she looks through books, plays with teething toys and screams at the ceiling for no apparent reason, it is just amusing for her. 

Staring and talking to her reflection in the mirror is hilarious for us. She smiles and reaches for it. 

Teething pain has been the only low this month but even through the discomfort she has been her happy self for the most part.

She is still nursing a hundred percent.

This month we dedicated her at church. I will post about it soon. Free time is a luxury now a days. 

No New Clothes Challenge

 

I challenged myself to a No New Clothes challenge for the next three months {although I am planning on extending it until the end of the year, but I figured I'd start small and try it out.}
For many, this isn't too big a deal, but for me it is.
Over the past years, I've gotten in to the habit of constantly shopping. There's a lot of reasons for it, work, church, being surrounded by well dressed people made me feel pressured to constantly have new items in rotation, sales that are "too good to pass up". The fact is, I was spending way too much of my income on clothes. I want to "reset" my shopping habits and do some self-evaluation as to why I wasn't happy when I looked in the closet.

In short, I  need to be happy with what I have.

Fasting from spending in an area where I typically overspend will be an incredibly eye-opening experience. I expect to gain insight through this challenge. Just by starting this challenge I am much more aware of what a habitual spender I can be. I know that staying on budget, for me, means I need to be a better planner when I am spending money in the future. And this applies to so much more than shopping. This method of fasting, evaluating, purging, organizing, and planning could definitely be applied to any area where we have the tendency to overspend. Think about all the times we buy dinner because we waited until the last minute to plan for our meal.

Do you tend to overspend in one area? Would you consider doing a spending fast?

Zara {12Weeks}

3 month old Zara is a riot, she is laughing, kicking, making tons of noises, and we pretend she is having a conversation with us.

She has discovered her hands and won'r stop twirling them and putting them in her mouth and observing them.

After two months of not taking a bottle or a pacifier or liking any toys she finally has a doll she likes to play with and keeps her entertain when she is in the car seat and I have to run errands.

Zara developed a little rash around her mouth and shoulders, her pediatrician says it is an allergic reaction but we still don't know to what so I am being extra careful with that.

She has been sleeping 4-5 hours straight at night and I love it. She sleeps in her crib in her room and just wakes up to eat and goes back down right when she is done.

She is very curious about her surroundings and likes being in the baby Bjorn looking out when we go for walks so she can see everything around her.

We had to put all the 3 month old clothes away already and got the 3-6 month clothes out.

She is growing way too fast.

Zara {8Weeks}

Zara is a lot of fun, she is sort of sitting on her own, although she sort of falls to the side. At 8 weeks she got to experience her first Easter and likes taking short walks in the baby sling.

She has a little bit of baby acne and her hair is slowly growing, specially in the back.

Took her first vacation to Vegas to celebrate her great grandma's birthday and she did amazing in the car.

Zara {4weeks}

Zara  is 4 weeks today!

Time truly flies, one day I am at the hospital giving birth and the next thing I know I am taking a picture of my little one for her 4weeks.

She has a unique personality, I love everything about her. I get to spend all day and all night with her and still can not get enough of her.

She is getting stronger every day and learning about the world around her. She stares at us every time we are talking to her and holds her head up during tummy time.

My favorite time with her is when we listen to worship music and while I sing (well...you know try to sing) she coos and gurgles and smiles, she enjoys the music that is for sure.

I have to admit that i stare at her 23 hours a day and I sleep for one! This first month has been a life changing experience. Every day is completely different from the last, when you think you got it all figured out and you have managed to figure out a schedule, the sun rises and everything changes again.

Having a little human depending on you 24/7 is the most humbling and sanctifying experience of them all. There is not a moment that I am not seeking God's guidance and praying for wisdom and discernment. I love this new season I am in.