Ode to El Cholo

We went to California to visit my fam for the week! It was quite fun for us! We spent the first few days at my parents then a few days at Tanman's family beach house and then back to my parents. Grammy and Grampy got to hang with their boys... Can you believe our family is tied now?! Who would have ever thought we would have an even number of girls to boys?!

Baby G loved the beach... or at least he will one day!

One of the highlights of our trip with the hour drive to my family's favorite restaurant. It is Legend.... dary! This is one of those places that is passed down from generation to generation. We grew up on this place! It smells like home. And yes, I am aware that there is one not even a mile from my parent's but the one in LA is better. It just is.

So we decided to celebrate that fact that my mom and all her sisters were together and the last time Tanman and I had it was right before we got married so we were in need of a visit with our dear friend El Cholo. My stomach is satisfied.

Flying Time

Wow! I can't believe how fast the past month and a half have flown! Life has been so fun and busy around here. The days melt into night and the nights seem to go on forever... :) Baby G is a real cutie and we are so happy that he picked us to be his parents!

Here are a few things we've learned about our little man so far:

He prefers to fall asleep like this:

Or like this:

...which makes it very hard to type a blog post.

He weighs less than his cousin who is five weeks younger than him.

He is so strong and a fan of tummy time

but not so much a fan of getting his foot chewed on!

There is nothing he loves more than being "milk-drunk"

or straight "chillin".

He loves the beach...

...and his cousins.

(He really looks up to them)

He lets mom dress him up to match her...

...and loves to relax with dad.

He is definitely an advocate of pacifiers...

...but not so much of being naked.

He likes to show off for dad and hold his own bottle...

and he is growing up way too fast!!!

I just love this little boy!

How sweet it is to be loved by you

He is here!
Welcome to the world Gunnar Wade!

Well last sunday morning I woke up for a usual middle of the night bathroom run only to be surprised by my water breaking instead! Let me tell you that is a weird feeling! That was definitely not what I was expecting and I really didn't feel any contractions that would have made me think I was in labor. We didn't exactly know what to do so we called my mom who miraculously was awake to answer the phone. She told us to grab our bags and head to hospital. (sidenote: our bags had been packed since the last time I went into labor. After that week, I knew nothing could prepare me for having a baby but I was at least going to be prepared by having a packed bag) When we checked into the hospital I was dialated to a 4 and the nurse told me I was going home with a baby. They brought us to labor and delivery and hooked me up with a sweet epidural... highly recommended. Tanman and I even got to sleep for a few hours. The next time they checked me I was a 9 and about tweny minutes later we were ready to push. A few minutes later our son was laying on my stomach looking back up at me and sucking his thumb.

What an amazing experience

Tanman was a perfect coach and a total support. I love my boys so much!

Because he was born so preemie (measuring in at about 35 weeks) at 5 pounds 5 ounces the doctors had a close eye on him making sure that he was developed and healthy enough to go home with us. The pediatritian gave us a 20% chance that we would go home with him which absolutely broke my heart. I think our little guy heard him because he ate so well that day and passed all of his tests which totally surprised us all (plus a little prayer always helps) and they gave him the go ahead to come home with us.

Life has been a crazy whirlwind ever since but I couldn't be more happy.

We have been visited by so many family and friends and super lucky to have my family staying with us for two weeks to help. (I'll do another post with pictures of our family) I might be comatose all day long but he makes it worth it and I couldn't do it without their help. A big thank you to everyone who has helped us get through the days and the nights! We are asbolutely in love with our new arrival and so grateful that everyone is doing well and staying healthy.

There is definitely a sudden bond and love that overcomes you when you first get to meet your child. I still get emotional when I look at all these pictures. I am so grateful for my husband and my son. They are the loves of my life.

party time

Boy do I have a lot to catch up on! Last Saturday, both sides of our families got together and threw a little baby shower for me! It was in my aunt's backyard and was so much fun! (Not to mention that the food was amazing!) the weather was perfect for an outdoor get-together and everyone put so much effort into making it so cute! Thank you!

My mom and sisters were able to come for the weekend, which made it even more blissful! We were still missing one because baby W was a little sick but they will be coming for another visit soon!

K and I matched!

All the sisters-in-law and mother-in-law

I’m sticking with a mod animal theme for our little guy’s room (pictures to come) so there were little animal accents everywhere and bright colors which is just my style!

I just loved this diaper cake that sister-in-law made! It is the cutest and even had bubble-b-gone in it! She thought of everything and they did such a cute job with the decorations, favors and invitations!

What a fun day!

I can't believe our little guy will be here soon! I'm starting to feel more and more ready but I know nothing can quite prepare me for the crazy that life will become when we bring home our bundle of joy!

Clean Tank!

Tank has always only been an outside dog. She was raised in the mountains on a ton of land. So, needless to say, her mane wasn’t her main attraction. In fact, when she first showed up at our house our hands turned black with dirt from petting her. One morning we eagerly decided that we would wash her ourselves… that did not work. We could not keep her collar on her and as soon as we semi-washed all the soap off her, she booked it to the nearest dirt mound, rolled around and then stared at us for a good 45 minutes. She never got rinsed off. The other day I figured out how to put all 65 pounds of her in my car to get her all dolled up and man has it made all the difference. She is just the cutest and now I’m not embarrassed when people ask to pet her on walks!

big news!!!

About 11 years ago, I decided that meat just wasn’t for me. I’m not a huge fan of blood dripping from whatever Is going into my mouth. Of course, everyone pressures you to eat meat as soon as you don’t. I can’t even count how many times my girlfriends and I would go out to get icecream cones and they would ask the cashier if they would hide some meat in my icecream, or the texts from Tanman that go a little something like this: “STOP DEPRIVING OUR CHILD OF PRECIOUS MEATS”. Since the dawn of Tanman and Merelips, I had always promised him that I would try meat again when I was carrying his baby, expecting that I bought myself a few years.  He has kindly reminded me of my promise each time meat  has been served, but I have somehow been able to resist. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago when Tanman and I went to In-n-out that I started considering going to the dark side. I became obsessed with the cheeseburger that the little boy at the table next to us had. For some reason the baby inside me was begging for it. It took all my strength not to take it from this poor stranger. Well, the other night we found ourselves at Smashburger (scrumptralescent) with brother and sister in law and baby H. Looking at their burgers compared to my chicken sandwich I just had to have a bite! So I took Tanman’s burger and bit into it. I’m not going to lie. It was good! Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, I’m not about to go order an entire burger for myself but I definitely would have a few more bites of that goodness Don’t think I’ve gone completely meat-eater, I still want my food cooked in a separate pan with separate utensils from meat and I’m sure this too shall pass after we meet this little guy. Next time I’ll try a Boca patty and see if he falls for it.

be prepared for a gush

Can you believe how time flies?! This past year has been absolutely amazing and I pretty much owe it all to my wonderful husband. He is such a sweetheart and I am so grateful for his love. It's crazy to think how much our lives have changed in this past year but we couldn't be happier where we are. And now I will gush through photos: