Mother's day 2013.

it started out with this.  then, i came home to this...

the next day i woke up to this...

and especially loved this...

then went to...

and devoured this...

it was a pretty spectacular first mother's day.  keep 'em coming!

Mothers and daughters.

in honor of mother's day, i wanted to jot down some thoughts about this topic.  there is something unique about the relationship between a mother and her daughter.  at times it could be more like a tug of war.  and then, if you're lucky, something magical happens kinda out of the blue.  the tug of war begins to lessen and a whole new relationship surfaces.  a friendship occurs and a mutual understanding blossoms.  my mom calls me her best friend, and as hokey as it sounds, she is mine too.

grandmother's and granddaughters share a different type of bond.  i felt it with my own grandmother and i see it between my mom and ella.  grandmothers are the best.  their love is so deep and unconditional.  

oh how i wish i knew my mom's mom.

and now for ella's mamas!

ella is one lucky girl!  happy mother's day moms.  i love you, i respect you, and i hope to be as good of a mom to ella as you were to me.

Cloth diapering update.

 it is unanimous, at least between grandma, mama, and daddy.  and the verdict is...a resounding yes to cloth diapering! i love cloth diapers and would highly recommend using them for your little one.

i wanted to test out the whole cloth diapering business for at least a month before i bought more since they are a pricey investment.  when i finally made the decision that cloth diapering was for us, bum genius changed their elemental diaper to a "new and improved" version.  however, after much research, the "new and improved" version, is not really new and improved.  many moms disliked it saying that it was poorly and cheaply made.   most online stores and amazon sold out of the old style bg elemental diapers.  i even tried eBay.  but when i saw that people were selling used...yes, used...elemental diapers for over $30 each my jaw dropped.  heck no was i going to (A) buy used diapers and (B) buy 1 diaper for $30.

if you recall, i only have 12 bg elemental diapers.  these were given to me by my very generous colleagues at work.  since i only have 12, i have to wash them everyday which forces me to use disposable diapers as i wait for the cloth ones to dry.  this really annoys me.  i hate putting on disposable diapers on ella.  after using the cloth ones, which are way softer, the disposable ones seem so rough and thin.

i finally found 2 online stores that had a few left in stock.  bingo!  i ordered a total of 9 more.  once they come in the mail  we will be cloth diapering ella full time at home.  yay!

Mama got a new phone!

john kicked off mother's day a little early this year since he'll be working on sunday.  he bought me the iphone 5!  i haven't gotten a chance to activate it yet, but i did buy my case ;-)

remember when i posted this a while back?  well, i bought the ban.do case.

look for me on instagram soon, and maybe even Facebook.

Gabriella's 3 month update.

3 MONTHS

2 MONTHS

1 MONTH

my, my, my...our little munchkin has grown!  she didn't have a pediatrician appointment this month so no new stats to rave about, but as you can see, ella has grown in weight and length.  just to refresh your memory, here are her previous stats:

2 months + 1 week -  11lbs 6oz
1 month - 8lbs 7oz
day 8 - 6lbs 8oz
birth - 6lbs 10oz

sleep
still doing the bedtime bath routine but i started to give her bath earlier at 8pm.  she is out cold by 10 pm.  by the second half of her second month, ella started to sleep 6 hours.  occasionally she will wake up at the bewitching 1 am hour, but for the most part she will wake up at 4 am.  after 4 am, to the dismay of mama, ms. ella tends to cluster feed.  this means that my little girl is waking up every hour to nurse after 4 am until 7 or 8 am when she is truly awake for the day.

we went through a phase of her waking up more frequently at night which, out of pure desperation, initiated co-sleeping.  but that has since passed and our little princess is back to sleeping in her pack n play.

we don't have a nap routine during the day.  some days she naps great and other days she doesn't.  when and how did you establish a routine with your little one during the day?

food aka nursing
one thing is for certain...my girl loves to nurse!  i swear, she wouldn't mind one bit if i nursed her all day long.  she went from taking 4 oz to 6 oz, to sometimes even 7 oz at a time.  what can i say...she takes after her mama and her daddy.  we're big eaters!

we had, and are still dealing with a little set back that occurred mid month.   i introduced the bottle at 6 weeks without a problem.  then a few weeks ago, every time gabriella would take a bottle, she would accumulate so much air that she would scream and cry after 4 oz and would only stop crying after 3 or 4 loud burps.  after those burps, she would reject the bottle even though she was hungry.  feeding her with a bottle became, and still is, somewhat stressful for her and whoever ends up feeding her.  i'm stressed about this because i go back to work in a few weeks.  i've bought all kinds of bottles that is supposed to decrease air, but i haven't found one perfect one.  for now, burping her frequently during her bottle feeds seems to make it a little better.  i'll keep you posted.

temperament
overall, i would have to say gabriella is a good and happy baby.  although, she will scream bloody murder if she's hungry.  things that calm her are: burping, being in her ergo carrier, going outside, being carried face forward, car rides, baths, being in her rock n play, and playing with her "friends" on her gym mat.

milestones
cooing, smiling, and giggling are constant.  she has found her hands and likes to stuff her fists in her mouth.  she has also started drooling this month.  her head control is improving and so is her leg strength.  tummy time is hit or miss with her still, but we continue to practice.  and i think she has her father's eyesight because she tracks us and objects extremely well.

 mama update
still trying to lose the last 7 lbs without any success.  i've been jogging more but haven't gone to my boxing/kickboxing classes because of the pain in my hands.  to drop this weight, i know i have to severely cut down, or better yet, eliminate the carbs.   but since i'm breast feeding i'm hesitant to do that.  the line on my belly from pregnancy (linea nigra) has almost faded away, my skin is getting back to normal, and my hair is starting to fall out.


till next month!

Happy Weekend...

...and a happy 3 month birthday to my little munchkin.  well, actually she turned 3 months 3 days ago ;-)

we have a jam packed weekend ahead of us filled with lots of good eats.  there's goes my diet!  oh well, good food is always worth it.

stay tuned for a 3 month update on my little munch.  she's growing up so fast, we can hardly keep up.

happy weekend to you!

It's time. I really have to make friends with my Precor.

i go back to work in less than a month!!  yikes...time to get serious and lose this baby weight.  i know it's going to take a mountain for me to drop the last 7 pounds, but i'd like to lose 10.

running is going to be key in trimming the fat around my mid section.

i really have to make friends with my treadmill.  i hate it but i love it.   this is not going to be easy.  it's going to take a lot of will power to not eat too many sweets, perseverance to continue even if i don't see the lbs drop as fast as i'd like, and discipline to run and exercise on a continuous basis.

we'll see if i succeed.  wish me luck.  i need it!

Sunday Funday in Wine Country.

the goobsters just loves her aunties and cousins!  despite our broken AC in our car, we made it to napa on a hot sunday afternoon.  mama even had a little bit of wine ;-)

we started out at v sattui for a light picnic of appetizers and wine.

love my cousins

then we headed to bouchon for a late lunch.

during our lunch, ella enjoyed some auntie and cousin love.

someone's a little jealous ;-)

she also got some grandma love.

before we left, we had to of course take a pic of all of us.

and here we have the 3 generations...grandma, mama, and baby ella.

Sunday funday at the Palace Hotel and the Japanese Tea Garden.

boy am i behind!  this is a post about a wonderful, sunny sunday 2 weeks ago.  my family of 3 met up with my in-laws and had a glutenous brunch at the palace hotel in san francisco.

her facial expression may not show it, but someone is excited for brunch ;-)

the food is spectacular at the palace hotel.  but i do love the atmosphere.

and who doesn't want to listen to a trio while stuffing themselves silly?

i love this picture of gabriella and her daddy.

and here is a picture of all 3 of us <3

we then met up with my sis in-law and her family at the cherry blossom festival in san francisco.

we enjoyed a nice walk up a few notorious sf hills to get to our car.

then we continued onto the japanese tea garden.

someone got a little silly with auntie's sunglasses ;-)

oh, and she wore her salt water sandals!!!

before we knew it, it was time to head home.