Karina's Birth Story

When Jeremiah was born, he was huge. I'm talking 9 pounds, 12 ounces huge. Check this out for a refresher. I was so scared I was going to have another big baby so my doctor told me she would induce me at 39 weeks. At first, she told me I would be induced on Saturday, July 14 but when I went to my last appointment she told me the 16th would work better for her. She wanted to deliver the baby and she was on call on the 17th.

I checked into the hospital at 8:00pm on Monday the 16th. When Eloy and I got to my delivery room, there were 2 women, one to the left and one to the right, SCREAMING their heads off. It seriously felt like we were in a scary movie or a bad episode of Baby Story. We wanted to pack up and leave... but then again, I wanted my baby out so we were staying.

 (My huge belly before I changed into my lovely hospital gown)

At 10PM, the nurse started me on cervidil. Cervidil is as small as a memory chip and its placed on the cervix. It helps thin out the cervix. Before the cervidil I was dilated to a 1 before the cervidil and when they took it out at 10 the following morning I was dilated to a 3. During the middle of the night, around 3 AM I felt a few drips run down my thigh. We called the nurse and she said my water didn't break, it was just amniotic fluid... I think my water broke.

So, at 10AM my nurse took out the cervidil and gave me a examination. After that I showered and then walked around... and cramped as we walked. When we finished our walk the nurse hooked me up to pitocin. At 12:15 my water broke. The cramps came in stronger so around 2 I got the juice! I looooovvvee the juice. Everyone cleared the room and my CRNA (my anesthesiologist) was so awesome. He was an older, bald guy with hairy arms... haha. He rolled his little cart behind me and when he opened it, the lock made a weird noise. I looked up at the nurse and she asked me if I was nervous. I let her know I wasn't but what the heck was that noise? To me, it sounded like a drill! The nurse and drug dealer got a good kick out of that one. At least they did... that noise scared me! After the epidural was hooked up my nurse did another examine and I was dilated at a 5. About an hour later the nurse kicked our moms out of the room and wanted me to pee (TMI?). So, I pee'd and as I laid there I told Eloy my body felt super anxious... it was a weird feeling. After my attempt to pee, (mind you I had no bladder control thanks to the epidural) she did another examine and I was at a 10! YAY! Both of our moms strolled back in and asked if I was ok and I let them know I was at a 10 and it was almost time to push! These 2 cute grandma's clapped their grandma hands and hugged each other like they just won the lottery. I felt a little nauseas so the nurse hooked me up to some zofran and the nausea was gone. I. LOVE. DRUGS.

I started pushing around 2:50. When her head was crowing the doctor said to stop pushing! WHAT? Who says that during labor? So, I stopped and they set up shop with 2 minutes. Eloy looked at me and said, "Her heads right there babe!"... I looked at him with my evilest eyes and said "I know! I can feel the pressure!" I pushed for, what seemed like 2 minutes and out she came.

Miss Karina Ayva Garcia

Born at 3:12 PM

Weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces

19.5 inches long

Right after she came out, I looked up at Eloy, with tears in my eyes and told him "She's here." She had to sweetest little cry ever.

When the Doctor placed her on my belly, my heart felt so full. I feel in love instantly! 

Jeremiah was so excited to see his baby sister, Kina. When he walked into the cry, Karina started to cry and J freaked out! He did not like hearing her cry... it made him cry! Their introduction was a little rough because a nurse was in the room giving both baby and I an examine and kind of ruined the moment for us. 

The next day, Eloy and Jeremiah came back to take us home and that visit went a whole lot smoother. Jeremiah wanted to smoother his baby sister with kisses. He absolutely loves her! 

I could not be happier right now.

My heart is as full as can be. When I hold my sweet baby, cuddle with my handsome little man, OR look into my loving, handsome husbands eyes I feel Heavenly Fathers love fill my body.

Blessed am I.

Disneyland 2012

It's true... Disneyland IS the happiest place on earth.

Eloy graduates from UOP in May and as a gift to him/us we decided to take a vacay before he graduates. Considering I'll be bigger after Eloy graduates we decided to take our vacation during spring break. 

We had such an amazing time away. Disneyland was so much fun. I was waaaayy more excited than Eloy and Jeremiah. Don't get me wrong. They were pumped... but not as pumped as this momma. 

Right before we left for Disneyland J got hooked on Toy Story. We must've watched it 10 times with a 7 day period. So, naturally, the first ride we got on at Disneyland was the Buzz Lightyear ride. The ride was somewhat like a video game. You sit in a pod and try to shoot things with a laser gun. Fun! Somehow, I managed to score a whooping ZERO! Eloy scored around 12,000. My gun was TOTALLY defected because I KNOW I made some shots. 

When you get off the ride you walk into a store that sells nothing but Toy Story goodies. J freaked! So, we bought him a Woody. They are inseparable now. Very cute!

And I totally made Eloy put this hat on considering he was pretty much the reason we were in Disneyland.

Our second day at Disneyland, we managed to finish seeing everything we really wanted to see before dusk. So, we caught the 4:00 showing of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse/ Handy Manny/ Little Einstein's at California Adventures. On behalf of Jeremiah, this was probably the coolest thing there for him. He was so pumped to watch the show. It was so interactive and fun! Bubbles fell from the sky and just made J's day. 

On Wednesday, we visited Eloy's grandparents and Aunts.

I'm so grateful we made time to visit with them. It is something I will never forget.

And on our last day in Anaheim we stopped to eat Peruvian food. AH-MAZING!! We usually only get Peruvian food on our Anniversary so this was a major treat. 

And last, but not least, we stopped in Visalia to visit our great friends, The Macias family. We always pick up where we left off with these guys. And it's so awesome that we have boys that are just a few months apart. They loved hanging out together. Cute little monsters.

Baby #2!

Do you see this big guy?

He's going to be a BIG brother! 

We're so excited to have another baby. 

This baby has been tugging at my heart strings for months telling me he or she is ready to be with us. And when I say months, I mean months. It took some humbling on Eloy's part to realize we need to listen to Heavenly Father and have another baby but I knew it would. It was all apart of his plan.

We've known for awhile but decided to wait and tell our families on Thanksgiving. Our Mother's expression were the best and everything you would expect from grandmothers who itch that little baby love. Everyone is so excited and we couldn't be happier right now!

We hope everyone had as great of a Thanksgiving as we did!

<3,

The Garcia's 

Keep it neutral

When Eloy and I were registering for our wedding I asked him what color he wanted our room and bathroom. He said, "Blue". Blah. I threw out a bunch of other colors for him to choose from and nada. Nope. It had to be Blue. He wouldn't budge. So for the past 3 years, we've had this ugly plan blue comforter on our bed. blah, again. 

Now, FINALLY, he's letting me buy all new bedroom and bathroom decor. I can't wait!!! 

I really like this and this and I've had my mind set on these colors.

This project should be fun.

And to put a little something like this in my bathroom.

I've had tons of fun getting ideas and can't wait to get started! If anyone knows of some good crafty blogs out there that I can get ideas from, please send them my way!

Chow down

I know I haven't posted in FOREVER and today I thought I would change that.

So, I am completely in love with Nutella. I put it on strawberries, pancakes, bread and I'm planning on making a banana nutella milkshake. Well, Yesterday was my niece's 12th Birthday.I introduced her into the Nutella world and decided to make her some special cupcakes. They were to die for! Seriously the best frosting I've ever had. I made white and chocolate cupcakes, about 3 dozen, and frosted them with a nutella frosting. YUM!

Here's the recipe for the Nutella frosting:

3/4 c butter, softened

1/2- 3/4 c nutella (depending on how much you want)

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbs milk

3 c powdered sugar

Blend all ingredients in a bowl until smooth. If you feel like its too stiff, add another tbs of milk.

Jeremiah woke up from his nap around the time we started digging in. He immediately wanted on and boy oh boy did he have fun eating his cupcake!

Got milk?

Funny story...

We were walking through San Francisco last week and out of nowhere Eloy tells me he's been craving chocolate milk. Super random. So, we kept walking and about 5 minutes later this girl starts screaming "Free Nestles chocolate milk!!". I busted up laughing, ran up to her and asked for 2 chocolate milks. Needless to say, Eloy was a happy man.

 

Gotta love Friday's

Today seemed like a perfect day for ice cream.

And it was.

This was before Little J's meltdown. He has been tring really hard to feed himself lately. The problem with nothing lands in his mouth, it lands on him shirt or highchair. 

Nevertheless, it was still a perfect day for ice cream.

I hope you all had a great day!

More please!

As a kid, when my mom baked something I was usually by her side ready to lick a spoon that she had finished using or most of the time, I waited the big kahuna... the bowl. I think that's the best part of baking... indulging on what's been left behind. My personal favorites are raw cookie dough and vanilla cake batter.

Now that I'm a mom, I've noticed that I tend to have a little big munchkin by my side waiting for something. Actually, whenever I'm in the kitchen cooking, Jeremiah is usually by my side repeatedly saying "Nummy nummy nummy".

I have no problem with sharing my goodies with him. Where lies the problem is when he's finished.

He hates it when he is told that he can't have anymore or that the food is all gone.

My baby loves to eat... like his Mama.

We call her Nana

I think I've always known that when the time comes to start our family, I do not want to work. I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. The thought of being in an office all day while someone spends that time with my baby did not sit well with me. 

In my marriage, I would be what most people consider a Sugar Mama. I've always held a well paying job which allows Eloy to not work and concentrate on his studies. That was until I had Jeremiah. I went on Maternity leave never to return. The summer after Jeremiah was born Eloy found a summer job. That saved us for awhile but we knew we couldn't make it just on his temp-job and we definitely didn't want to pull out tons of loans. So, I started to look for a job where I could take J with me... like a nanny job. I had no luck whatsoever. Whenever we discussed the issue of me going back to work my eyes would get watery and there would be a lump in my throat.

After searching high and low, our Branch President called me and asked if he could relay my number to a woman that is looking for someone to help with her elderly mother for a weekend. I gave to ok and thought "why not? We could always use the extra cash."

The number was relayed and Eloy and I met up with the woman on the phone, Jeannette, and her mother Shirley during that week.

Shirley has Dementia and Parkinson's disease. She tends to forget things very quickly and trembles. I was needed to give her meals and meds and pretty much keep her company. It didn't seem like too much of a hassle so I agreed to help out the weekend that was needed.

That weekend has turned into 14 months and a new family.

Shirley, a.k.a. Nana, is a sweet, sweet woman. She loves adores Jeremiah. And he adores her right back.

J was 4 months old when we first went to Nana's. You see, Nana used to be a Pediatric Nurse so she loves babies. When I first spoke with Jeannette she thought the idea of having a baby around Nana may work as some sort of therapy for her. And it has. These 2 have the cutest relationship. He calls her Nana and says her name over and over and over on the drive to her house. He shares his cookies with her (or caca, the way he says it). And he gives her lots of hugs and kisses. His kisses are open mouth kisses so sometimes she gets scared when he charges at her.

J around the time we first starting going to Nana's

Nana has 2 bedrooms. This was in "Jeremiah's room".

J and Nana last year, on a hot summer day.

Walking buddies

Nana totally opens up when Jeremiah is around. She watches him play, laughs when he dances, and plays catch with him. He's just like a grandmother to him. It's so sweet.

Getting her to open up is very difficult. She wont talk to you unless you spark the conversation. But once you get her going on certain topics that bring back memories, she smiles so brightly. Last week she shared with me bits of her childhood. She's from Kansas and back home they had a farm full of a variety of animals. Cows, pigs, chickens, Horses, etc... I asked her if she ever rode horses and she said she had the most gentle horse ever. Her name was Betty and she was her favorite. She also shared a story about the mean geese on her farm. that would chase her as a kid. I couldn't help but chuckle as I pictured a young girl on a farm (I pictured the farm from Charlotte's Web... hahaha, I don't know why) running away from squawking geese. Her stories are so genuine and fun to listen to.

What a blessing it has been to "work" with Nana. I say "work" because it doesn't feel like your average job. I get to hang out with a sweet lady all day, play dominoes, watch I Dream of Jeannie, and take walks on this beautiful country side property.

 I often tell Jeannette how grateful I am that we found each other. 

Heavenly Father definitely heard our prayers.

Punk Rocker in hand-me-downs

I decided to try a new do on my little panda man.

He's rockin' the faux-hawk.

We visited my Nana yesterday and she got a kick out of it.

I've gotta say, and I'm not being biased, Jeremiah rocked the faux- hawk pretty darn good.

And this cute little Ecko outfit was a hand-me-down. It belonged to my 7-year old nephew, Nathan. My oldest sister, Raquel kept most of Nathan's baby's clothes. After having her second baby, Johnna, she decided to turn off the baby maker. So, lucky enough for Jeremiah and meeeee, he was the next boy to be born in the family and has acquired alllll of Nathan's old goodies. I'm excited to put our next baby boy in some of Nathan's and Jeremiah's old clothes and enjoy the awesomeness of hand-me-downs.