....And Then There Were Four

Hello Nathaniel!  Well folks, it has been two months since Nathaniel's birth and a lot of good and not so good stuff has occurred.  Nathaniel was born a healthy baby boy.  Who has a very different temperament from his sister's.  Or, it may be that since it's the second time around for us, it's a bit easier.  One thing is for sure, I never thought he was going to be over 9 pounds at birth!   He is now wearing size 6 months clothing...YIKES!  Here is a picture of me the night before his birth...double YIKES!

Elianna, I believe, has made a smooth transition to her brother's arrival.  There have been a few occasions that she wanted to be held when I was holding him. We do have to work on a "quiet" voice or a whisper.  Especially when Nathaniel is napping ;)  She states that he is "cute" and pronounces his name, "Nafaniel."  

I have had to deal with a breast infection for about a month, which I believe is now over with....fingers crossed!  Today I took my last antibiotic pill.  All I can say about that is, I never want to go through that again.   

Nathaniel is almost sleeping through the night.  Twice this week he slept until 5:15 AM.  Those two nights I consider sleeping through.  Last night he went back to a 4AM feed, even though, not too bad.

Got to say with two kiddos, the day goes by a lot faster!    

A clean bill of Health!

Today was our 6 month visit to CHLA; a follow up for Elianna's hip.  So off went, dealt with an 1.5 hour of traffic.  Elianna did pretty well with x-ray part.  I could not go in the room due to the fact that I'm pregnant, so I was out in the lobby waiting for Mark and Elianna to finish up and only heard Elianna once....Yay!

We waited just a bit and Dr. Skaggs who came in the room and said, "The x-rays look so normal, there is no need for follow up visits."  I could not believe it!  Thank you Jesus!  At our last visit, he had explained that if this visit's x-rays look good, we would have yearly follow up visits, so that's what I was hoping for, but instead we got better news!

We would like to extend a Thank you to everyone who had been praying for Elianna and her hip.  Those prayers really came through!

Saturday....Not too exciting.

Saturday:

In a nut shell:

Whittier Presbyterian Hospital for a Breast feeding class.  Gotta get back into the "lifestyle."

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Nap time for Elianna

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Costco - They got Halloween and Christmas set up already.

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Dinner - Saturday Nights we usually eat out and tonight it was Acapulco's.

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Finished up with some blogging and iMovie fun and....

some ice cream.

I know, shameful.  But I did enjoy every bite!

I didn't think pictures were really needed, expect for this last one.  I think we all know what Costco looks like.  

Friday...A small cold.

Friday:
Elianna woke up with a bit of a cold this morning.  Her first one!  Mostly it was a runny nose and sneezes throughout the day.  She seemed a bit more in need of hugs today, which is just fine with me.

Her free time choice, trying to plop herself into the Bumbo.  It's her latest thing. 

Oops!  Missed...

"In!"  She was very proud of herself, as you can see by her (big) smile.

She has taken it upon herself to be in charge of giveing Marely his snacks, (force) feeding him, and to let me know when he is in need of water.

Today's table top activity, watercolors!  It is very soothing for me.  

Elianna needed some TLC after her nap.  

During our silent reading time, Da-da was home and began playing the piano for us.  Elianna could not help herself and joined him.

Thursday....A morning at the library.

Thursday:  

Even though I'm a Souther California gal, I love my overcast summer mornings.  

Elianna and Marley are having some quality time.  Well, it's more like, Elianna is invading Marley's space.  

This Thursday was our library day.  Off to SFS library.  Elianna gets a big kick out of this statue each time she sees it. 

After letting her feet go, Elianna states, "Poochie!"

Some coloring....

After the library it was lunch time and I had a craving for a Big Mac.....and I got one.  It was very yummy!

Bath time!  Since I was about 5 months pregnant Mark has had to take over the baths.  My belly is too big, which makes it hard to get to her, especially when she wants to get up and walk around.  Bath time is now called, "The Daddy Dip."  The first few times Mark was done given Elianna a bath, it felt as if he done it in two minutes.  

Me:  You're already done?

Mark:  Yup.  I don't know what takes you so long in there.

Da-da and Elianna were camera shy.  

I soon got a smile...from both!

Our evening walk before bed time.  The whole group.  Elianna's favorite saying during our walk, "Come on!"

Wednesday...at home

Wednesday was a nice easy going day spent at home.  I'm not sure how most Mommies do it, but I usually get out of bed at least an hour before Elianna's usual wake up time; getting ready and I try to do few things around the house.

Here's my 5 minute grooming regiment.  

Today during our gross motor time, Elmo and "Woof" joined us for yoga.

Elianna sat on the mat for a bit.  Giggled will while we were stretching our legs and touching our toes, but she did attempt to touch her toes and then mine.

Soon after she retreated to some book time.

After yoga and our morning walk, it was some tabletop activities (fine motor).  Play-doh was the choice for today.

Since it was a hot day, after Elianna's nap, we  had some water play.  

Elianna notices that "Da-da" is home from work.

Kiss- kiss!

....and for a snack, ice cream!

Tuesday.....Busy Tuesday.

Yesterday, Tuesday, turned out to be a busy day.  It started with getting Elianna up and ready for the day....

Good Morning!

Someone is done with breakfast.

While I clean up our breakfast mess, Elianna has some free-play time, and why that clothes basket is one of her favorite things, beats me!

Throwing in one chore for the day....the bathroom!

Elianna was going to help, but she decided to get into my things instead.

....and applied some blush.

Abuelita (my mom) came over to babysit for a bit while I went to my doctor's appointment.  After my appointment we headed out for lunch....

.....and the beach.  Elianna was trying to enjoy the sand, especially on her hands.

She spotted the ocean...charge!

....maybe not.

Elianna got her feet wet and did not care for it.  As you can see, her face says it all.

After dinner, Mark was washing the dishes and Elianna and I needed to relax.  I almost fell asleep.  

Monday

This week I will post what our daily life looks like.  My friend Samantha did this on her blog and I thought it was a cute idea (thanks Sam!).  So here is a snapshot of what Monday was like.....

After our morning walk and quick stop to Fresh and Easy, it was Elianna's TV time.  

....and she was enjoying her favorite "friends."  Elmo.....

and Ernie.

While she was enjoying some TV fun.  I got started on dinner.  It was orange chicken via crock pot.

Someone is hungry and came to supervise.

Even though I cut up some orange slices for her lunch she wanted to dive into the uncut 1/2.

The orange mixture for the chicken.

Before the chicken is cooked.

Dinner is ready!

After dinner and Elianna's bath, we headed over to Central Park for a live Reggae Band.

Mark got to catch up on current events.

Elianna did some writing.

 Overall, our threesome group had a good time and enjoyed some tunes!

Cheese! (I call this Mark's "homie" look)