Family Fun

We had another great weekend. We spent Saturday morning and afternoon getting stuff done and running a couple errands. Then Saturday evening we went to Dale and Stef's for a swim party. Very fun! It's awesome spending time with family and sharing time together. The "kids" went swimming which included me and Eric. No swimming for Jarem yet, he's not quite old enough. Sunday we went to the Baby Expo at the Convention Center with Karen, Uriel and Raf. Although the Expo wasn't quite as exciting or grand as we'd hoped it would be, we still had fun. We walked around and saw the scariest Elmo ever. I guess that's what a downtown Phoenix Elmo looks like. Scary!! We went to church that evening and then came home and moved our furniture around. I really like our new living room set up. It's much better and will be great for when Jarem starts being more mobile.

As for the Jarem update, he's probably 14 pounds by now. I weighed him on Friday and he weighed 13-9! So big and yet so small. It's weird with him being so big cause I expect him to talk already. :) Well, not quite yet I guess. He's been sleeping pretty good. He starts off the night with about a 4-6 hour stretch of solid sleep. After that he wakes up every hour to two hours until the morning when Eric leaves. Lately he's been falling back into a solid sleep until 8 or 9am. He stays awake for about an hour and is totally happy and alert. He will just lay there and smile and explore the world around him. Then comes the difficult part. He doesn't really nap anymore so he'll only sleep for about 20-30 minute intervals and usually needs to be held in order to stay asleep. The only alternative is his swing and sometimes the car seat. He's too cool for naps already. Bummer! My mom got him a totally fitting outfit that reads, "Sleep is for the weak". Too funny... Jarem gets back into a good sleep cycle around the time that Eric gets home. He'll usually zonk out for daddy. He's definitely a daddy's boy. In the evenings he'll sleep for about 1-2 hour intervals again until bed time. He's eating like a champ and gaining weight though so whatever his sleep cycles, he's doing good at growing.

Today it finally hit me that I have to go back to work soon. So sad! I can't imagine not spending all day with Jarem and knowing every detail of his day. It's going to be so hard to leave him and go back to work. I have to go back on July 21st. Before then we're going to do some good travelling. Grandma and Gary and coming to visit for the 4th of July. They'll be here July 2nd-7th. YAY! Auntie Joanna will also be here for the 4th. Then we're planning a trip up to Washington from the 8th through the 15th. Rose and Gary are going to get two full weeks of Jarem love. We're so excited to get to spend some time with them. Very exciting!!!

Well, other than that, our one year anniversary is next Monday. It's amazing how fast time flies. We'll write more about that later though. For now I'm going to go back to bed and join Eric and Jarem for some good dreams. Night...

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Cool Dude

Yeah, it's like that. Let's do lunch. I'm on a milk only diet, it's an Arizona thing. Do you do milk? Cool, have your mommy call my mommy.
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Curly Hair

We've been trying to tell people that Jarem's hair is curly. Here is proof! After bath time every night we marvel at his cute curly hair. Tonight I decided that we just had to take a picture of his curly hair. I know it doesn't stay curly for long and that it gets pretty crazy once he lays on it, but here it is. Proof that he has curly hair. SO HANDSOME!!

This last picture is a pre-bath picture. Grammy took this awesome shot of him smiling. Very cute...thanks Grammy!


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Happy Father's Day!!

Happy Father's Day to all the amazing dads out there. I especially want to wish a Happy Father's Day to the best dad I know, Eric. He is so great with Jarem. The priest gave an amazing homily at church tonight. He talked about being grateful for all the fathers in our lives. He also talked about a father not only being there and stimulating his son through playing ball together and quality time. But also encouraging your son and teaching him about God, prayer and leading a Christian life. It made me smile so much because although Eric and I can't wait to see what sports Jarem might like to play, we also can't wait to hear him pray and talk to God. We feel so incredibly blessed everyday that we have shared with this little baby boy. He's such a reminder of God's amazing power. We truly are blessed.

Eric spent his first Father's Day doing something pretty typical for dads, golfing! He hadn't been in over four years so he leaped at the chance to get to play. He had SO MUCH FUN out there in the sun. (Plus, it was free which is definitely an added bonus.) He played at this amazing course in Encanterra. They also hosted a brunch in the clubhouse so my mom, Jarem and I joined him halfway through the course for lunch. Then he went back to finish the last couple holes of golf and wrap up his golfing excursion. The evening we went to church and then came back home for dinner. Karen, Uriel and Raf joined us for dinner and Eric BBQ'd some burgers for us all. YUMMY! Overall it was an awesome day and Eric has definitely enjoyed his first Father's Day. Right now he's talking to his dad on the phone, holding Jarem and has a huge smile on his face. I guess life doesn't get much better than this...

These are just a few random pictures from this week.
Holding his head up all on his own and sitting like a big boy. SO HANDSOME!
Guitar Hero ROCK STAR in training. He can't wait to jam with the big boys.

Catching a quick nap with daddy on the couch. I wonder if they're both dreaming about me.
FUNNIEST PICTURE! It was cute until Jarem decided to punch Grammy. Not really, but doesn't it look like he's punching her?!? Poor Grammy.
Jarem with his Godfather, Uncle Dale. Too cute...


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Strong Boy

It's been quite a while since I've blogged hasn't it? I suppose all of those posts from the hospital couch made my thumbs a little bitter. Anyway, I'm back to share some of our wonderful life with you.

So we've been saying that Jarem is way strong for his age since he was born. And I must say that the 'subtle' eye-rolls that all but scream ''ROOKIE! All first time parents say that.'' Have been duly noted.

I asked Jarem what we could do to prove to the naysayers once-and-for-all that he's the bestest baby out there. Here's what he said to me...

'Father, I think that it would be quite appropriate if you were to photograph a segment of our semi-weekly vascular development routi- (bleh) pardon me, spit-up happens... development routine. Then, and only then would those who frequent your weblog understand that I have a certain je ne sais quoi''

At first I was shocked, but then I realized that he's been recovering quickly from spit-ups for a week or two now.

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Big and strong

Jarem continues to amaze us with how big he is getting and how strong he is. People regularly comment on his neck control. Since the hospital he has been lifting up his own head. He now holds his head up when you hold him on your shoulder and maintains control as you move. He rarely lets his head bang down on your shoulder. He usually gently lays it down when his neck gets tired. It's so amazing! We love how alert and aware he is becoming. He can follow things as they move with his eyes and loves staring at ceiling fans. Our living room ceiling fan is one of his best friends, after mommy and daddy. We can't believe how old he is and how fast time flies. He'll be starting school before we know it.

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This weekend

We had a great weekend! Jen came to visit with Braden and Emma this past weekend. It was so much fun to see the kids together. Braden and Emma were so soft and gentle with Jarem. It was adorable the way they would start at him and react to every sound he made. They would gently kiss his head and feet and stared at him throughout their time together. They're such great cousins and already look after Jarem. I'm sad to say that I didn't take any pictures of them together this past weekend. I'll have to get some pictures from my sister's camera.

On top of having Jen and the kids in town, Eric's aunt Linda and cousin Kacia also visited us this weekend. They brought Chris, Kacia's boyfriend, too. We had such a fun weekend with them here. It's so nice having family in town and getting to spend time together. On Saturday we went swimming. Although the water felt amazing and quite refreshing to get out of the heat, I'm regretting going swimming now. Something about treading water five weeks after a C-section just wasn't smart. I've been in so much pain since we went swimming. My stomach muscles haven't quite healed so my incision in incredibly sore as a result of my swimming adventures. At least my good friend Advil has been taking care of me. hehe


Jarem started out in his stroller with clothes on but it was just too hot. He ended up in only a diaper with daddy in the shade.
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Sleeping Boys

Eric is such an amazing daddy! On the weekends he will usually take Jarem at somewhere between 5am and 7am. He will take him in the living room to hang out and lets me get solid sleep for a couple of hours. It's so nice because when Jarem is in the room I don't quite get into a deep sleep. But when Eric takes him I know Jarem's in good hands so I can relax and get some good rest. I swear that Eric has the touch when it comes to calming Jarem, burping Jarem and putting Jarem to sleep. (Which makes him one amazing guy in my book!)
Jarem definitely loves his daddy and especially loves cuddling with Eric. They are so cute together! I love waking up in the middle of the night with my boys on either side of me. I'm so incredibly blessed! It's fun waiting for Eric to come home. It's definitely the best part of my day. ... Full Post...

Prayers for Tito

Well, sorry it has been so long. Life sure gets busy with a baby. It's hard to find time to blog since all I want to do is hold him and cuddle. But I'm going to try and get back on track with more regular blog entries. Today I'll update you on the past two weeks.

Tito had open heart surgery two weeks ago. It was a quintuple bypass. He's doing much better now although he's very weak and has lost quite a bit of weight. He's super strong though and is fighting hard. He had to be admitted at the hospital again over the weekend when he started having some chest pains and shortness of breath. But after staying the weekend at the hospital, he's back home now. We all got a good scare but everything seems to be okay. They're not completely sure what the pains were in his chest but they think it is just related to the surgery and not a heart attack or anything more serious.

One good thing to come from Tito being in the hospital is that our family got to spend lots of time together while in the waiting room at the hospital. In fact, my uncles were all in town to visit Tito so Jarem got lots of time with his great uncles. It was fun to see all the boys together.

Please keep Tito and Tita in your prayers. We're praying for strength for both of them and faith in God's plan. We're all hoping that once Tito is fully recovered from his surgery he'll be able to be more active and have a renewed energy. Tita takes great care of Tito and it's becoming a full time job lately. We pray for patience for her and strength of mind and spirit. They're an amazing couple and will only be stronger in the end. We love you, Tito!

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