Happy belated valentine's day from our family of 3 (plus 2 dogs) to yours.

i know this outfit is too big for our little gabriella, but i couldn't resist.  we got it as a baby shower present and i thought it was perfect for valentine's day.  you truly are our valentine gabriella, each and every day.  we couldn't be more in love.   

Chillaxin at home in the ergobaby.

here we are, doing exactly what we have been doing pretty much every single morning, except we broke out the ergobaby that my sis-in-law gave us.  it looks like baby girl likes it a lot.  oh yea, our little princess is 18 days old today.  how time flies ;-)

and here are some photos i took this morning.

The day our lives changed forever.

Gabriella "Ella"

Born on January 30, 2013 at 5:15 am.

6 pounds, 10 ounces, 19 inches. 

that was a good day.  she is officially 5 days old today.  i have so much to write and share with all of you...from her birth story to her sleep schedule to breast feeding to postpartum surprises.

we are all doing good.  she's a beautiful, healthy, baby girl which is more than i could have ever asked for.  our family of 3 is bunkering down in our home trying to catch our breathes and get to know our tiny blessing from God.  she's a miracle...our little miracle.

i promise to catch you up to speed soon.

Family baby shower for Gabriella 1.26.2013 (sneak peak).

a big shout out to our moms, sister, and cousin.  our baby shower blew our minds.  it was more than we could have ever asked for.  this baby girl is LOVED and BLESSED.  thank you so much!

once i get our photos from john's cousin, i'll write a proper post.  and yes, this baby shower deserves 2.

Work baby shower in honor of Gabriella.

i have the most generous and sweetest co-workers.  they threw my baby shower at cheesecake factory on MLK day.  we were having such a good time, that photos totally slipped my mind until the end of our lunch.  by the time i whipped out my camera, john, jenn, sarah, ileana and alison left already =(

i was 35 weeks here.  look how high my belly was!  gabriella decided to "drop" the very next day.

look at all of ella's gifts!

and best of all, they got me a set of cloth diapers!!

i am truly blessed.  i really can't thank all of them enough.

Lately, my nights and days.

i've been off work now for a little over a week.  my baby showers have come and gone (posts coming soon, i promise). nesting is in full throttle.  yesterday i took a break and headed to my in-laws for nanay and tatay's wedding anniversary.  this is what my night looked like =)

isn't she the cutest?  her and ella are going to best buds.

and this is what my morning looked like.  nowadays, sleep is more like a novelty for me.  i woke up at 4 am and started organizing and washing ella's clothes.  while jojo was fast asleep, bubba heard me and decided to join me and make himself comfortable.  oy vey, life is about to get interesting with 2 dogs and a newborn. 

Interested in seeing fat?

what a title right?  you'll see what i mean in just a second.

a few days ago, i told john to buy steaks from costco.  instead, he came home with short ribs.  even better, right?!  i love short ribs.  when cooked right, they are super tender and tasty.  of course, i went straight to my cookbooks and the internet to find an easy recipe.  by now, you must know that i am fond of one-pot meals.  so i was leaning towards using my crock pot.  i found an easy recipe online (pregnancy brain has made me forget which recipe it was) and utilized these ingredients.  *tangent*  i plan on cooking short ribs again using my mom's recipe.  i will post her recipe because it is way better than this one.  it calls for 7up!  

ingredients

before i put the lid on and said sayonara for 8 hours.

after the short ribs were cooked, i separated the meat in a plate and put the sauce in the fridge over night so that the fat will rise and solidify.  see?

yes, that's the fat that solidified overnight in the fridge.

 before i went to work, i removed the pot from the fridge and skimmed off all of the fat.  see?

the de-fatted sauce, minus the short ribs.

then i put the meat back in the sauce and simmered everything until hot.  the husband and i enjoyed this meal and didn't miss the fat at all.  i know that fat = flavor, so some of you may want to skip this step.  but once you see the fat, can you really eat it knowing that that's what's going into your bodies and clogging your arteries????  ok, maybe only occasionally ;-)