Christmas 2011

Clara's first Christmas was so much fun, despite feeling under the weather. We focused on the love of our family, it was so marvelous!! My family drove from Orlando all the way to our Fort. I cried when I saw them! Oh how I've missed them and I know Clara missed them as well.

We went to church early on Christmas morning and it was a nice service. My family even got recognized for having traveled all the way from Colombia :) After church my dad pulled his video camera (Ipad2) and began recording all of the beautiful rock formations we were surrounded by. He mentioning what a beautiful place I live in and he is so happy for me. That meant a lot to me!  When we got home we unwrapped presents while Skyping my sister and her growing family.  Clara was my baby doll cutie pie and I loved seeing the light in her eyes.

Jon decided to cook his famous brisket and because he wanted it to be extra special it took him 7 hours to cook!!! Sometimes he amazes me.  It was a delicious dinner and papa was telling us stories about Colombia which are always so enthralling.

We were also able to Skype with Jon's parents and they saw her opening the generous presents they sent us.

All in all it was a beautiful and sweet Christmas! I look forward to sharing many more Christmases with our baby girl!!

 Surrounded by gifts Clara is entertained by a scrap of wrapping paper!!

Marriage

The past two months have been difficult on my marriage.  We moved across country in a small window of time, I had 3 major health issues all in the same week, and as first time parents we were dealing with a brand new baby and all that comes with it. Lots of responsibility! 

I started noticing Jon being short with me.  His temper was flaring and the sweet calm and very patient disposition he usually carries was missing. I am very headstrong and believe Jon's world revolves around me! I refuse to walk away from a fight and demand that he sees things my way.  I have no shame in admitting this because I know they are my shortfalls but the good news is I have learned a lot about myself within these past two months.  

We finally reached a breaking point and really had it out. I was in constant tears and was so confused about everything.  Things were going so incredibly wrong...the bed I ordered on October 31st didn't arrive until December 20th, our washer was delayed in getting here, we had no internet for 6 weeks which caused Jon's second job to lose a lot of money, Clara had two major falls within 2 weeks, Clara's crib finally arrived but it was damaged and had to be returned, our reimbursement money for the move was delayed and a huge chunk was taken out for taxes (which didn't have to happen if Jon's recruiter had told him to submit moving receipts- ahh!!), our brand new washer broke, I could seriously go on and on about the horrible luck we have had since moving here! But during our streak of bad luck we kept having strong feelings in our heart that this is where we were supposed to be. We absolutely love it here! We were just so sick and tired of everything going against us.  

All of what I described above was hard on our marriage but especially hard on Jon.  I wasn't realizing the burden my husband was carrying as the sole provider of our household.  He has been (and is currently) working around 60 hours a week, (40 at the hospital plus 20 for his second job), and is training his replacement.  She is 8 months pregnant which means she will go on a maternity leave which boils down to Jon continuing to work until she comes back.  Last week we had our final argument and my world was crashing down on me.  I felt weaker as a mother because all of my energy was being directed to fixing my marriage.  Then one day Jon started talking to me about some personal issues he had been going through lately.  I had no idea that on top of everything else there was more!  I listened to him and didn't say a word. I looked into his eyes and saw love and sadness.  

The next morning I woke up and decided to catch up on some blogs to distract myself from the here.  I came across an amazing blog post that brought me to tears.  It described exactly what was going on in my marriage.  Jon's personal struggle and me taking it all so personal.  The writer then gave out some advice which I decided to try.  I do want to say before reading this post I had been searching the scriptures and reading General Conference talks hoping to get help.  I felt so calm and it helped me to invite the Spirit into my heart.  That's when I felt inspired to go to this website which I hadn't visited for a while.  I want to share this link with you hoping that if you are struggling in your marriage that you can receive comfort in the authors words: http://marriageconfessions.com/2011/12/12/when-your-marriage-is-not-about-you/#comment-105632

My Little Love

I had always heard it say that your heart lives outside you when you have a baby.  Oh boy is this statement incredibly true!!  Clara is the love of my life!  Her smile sends a warm glow into my heart.  85% of my brain capacity involves Clara, Clara, and more Clara.  The other 25% is spent on cooking, cleaning, and being a good wife.  I love being a wife and mother.  It's truly the calling I had so patiently waited for.  I still remember the aches I felt as I couldn't have a baby.  Those were some dark times.  But with extreme sadness comes supreme happiness and that is how I feel with my baby girl.  I mean, how can YOU not love this smile!!

I LOVE this picture!  This is Clara playing a little too hard :) 

Life So Far

It's been a little over a month since we have lived in our new beautiful home.  I can official say "Home Sweet Home".  I hung my big clock and Temple picture which makes it official!  I don't know how long we will be here but we plan to make the most of it.  I am looking forward to settling down some day but for the next several years we will be nomads as Jon fills his resume with lots of neat experiences.

We have made lots of new friends and this is the first time we have ever lived so close to members of our ward.  There are five families that live in the housing community which we reside in as well as work at the hospital.  I don't know if I mentioned this before but in order to live in our neighborhood you must be a hospital employee. It's such a neat experience when I socialize with people from my hood.  We have one large thing in common and I can't really put it into words but it feels nice to have that in common.  One thing I absolutely love is having Jon come home for lunch everyday for an hour.  He plays with Clara while I make us a nice lunch :) I have made lots of close friends and we go to Wal-Mart together (it's a 45 minute drive) and lunch, and every Thursday I go to playgroup with Clara and the parents are so nice.

For Christmas we got invited to a progressive dinner which is so funny cause I was planning on having one next year so this is so neat!! Perhaps I will throw a fondue dinner.  Yesterday we put up our very first Christmas tree! We actually have never purchased one because we have never been home for Christmas but this year (which is Clara's first Christmas!) we will be home so a tree now flaunts our living room :)  It's white and filled with Jon's vintage ornaments from his childhood.  It's so cute!

So hear we are living in the mountains making good friends and enjoying our amazingly beautiful surroundings! One day I will devote a post to the landscape that surrounds me.  Jon has once said he feels like time has stopped while living here.  We are so focused on each other and our little family which is so sweet.  Now don't get me wrong, I miss my big city living life but that can wait a few years while I enjoy my slow paced life.

Things to look forward to next year: Wedding, Clara's 1st birthday in Orlando, the birth of my second niece or nephew, Vegas baby, the Grand Canyon, General Conference, and lots of day trips to the mountains :)

Kevin & Clara 

Clara Update

It's about time I dedicate a post all about Clara.

Our little Clara is now 5 months old and a happy little baby.  She loves to roll all over the floor, however, I spend a good chunk of my time flipping her back because after 5 minutes she starts to complain! She is getting better at scooting back but hasn't figured out how to move forward.

I want to talk about her sleeping for a minute.  Clara has never slept in a crib (her crib just came yesterday!) and I don't know where she got this but this is how she loves to sleep:

This girl gets me so nervous that she can't breathe! When I realize she's scooted all the way to the corner of the bed, I pick her up and move her to the center of the bed. Then she realizes she's in the center of the bed so she whimpers and complains until she reaches that favorite corner of the bed! I am really hoping that once she has her palace (crib) that she won't squish her face to the corner of her bed.

So the above pictures took over an hour to upload :(  I don't like blogging without pictures so we will see how far my patience goes.

Baby is up from her nap, must attend to her :) We are so in love with our little bundle!!

Leaving Home

I realize that to many of you our move to Arizona came as a surprise. I will try and explain without boring the lot of you.

I consider myself an open book. I can tell you just about anything and everything about my life with opinions and observations- the whole shubang. I like it that way. But I am also a bit superstitious and for a handful of upcoming events I try and keep a tight lip. I waited almost 20 weeks to reveal when I was pregnant and with our possible move looming I only told a handful of people that Jon was even interviewing.

I've lived in Florida my whole life minus the first 5 years of my beginning. My family immigrated to Miami, FL where I spent 7 awesome years with the best tan of my life! We then moved to Orlando, FL where I lived for 10 years in what I call a beautiful bubble. I loved how peaceful and fun that time was. When I married Jon we almost moved to Baltimore but were promised a lovely home in Gainesville which was divine! Do you see a pattern here? I keep slowly moving further north!! I was the first of my siblings to declare, "the moment I graduate from high school I am out of here!" And as ironic as life is all of my siblings ventured out of Florida at one point or another except me! (although I had the best reason to stay....love of course!)

While in Gainesville I kept thinking "only 4 more years and I'm outta here!" But then my ambitious husband decided to pick up an MBA which meant an extra year of Florida. Ho Hum!

I thought, ok, 1 more year and we are outta here! But then an incredible thing happened and the FDA started a program at UF which was exactly the kind of career path my husband had been aiming for. The program would be for 2 years and when my husband was, very hesitantly, telling me about it I almost lost my mind!! I was so angry. But then I prayed about it and was OK. Because I started to realize that my true home is where my husband is. I love him so much that I meant what I said, "Jon, my dear, I would follow you to the ends of the earth."

When the program lost it's funding back in March 2011 due to Congress cutbacks we were devastated. I was finally feeling comfortable with the idea of 2 more years in Florids. So while Jon continued to work for Premier,Inc. I was preoccupied giving birth.

Jon then decided to interview out West for the Indian Health Services. He first told me about IHS the first year we were married. I wasn't completely out of the loop when he began to take that option seriously. My husbands passion for service was one of the reasons I became attracted to him. I remember while dating him he told me he had a real love for charity. I then thought, "but you don't belong to any denomination so what's your purpose in doing something kind for others?" His simple reply to me was, "because that's the way my mother raised me."

When Jon interviewed at several sites he kept telling me to look up each of the six areas. I was sort of in disbelief because it seems the universe wants to keep me in Florida so I simply shrugged my shoulders until he got the call that we would be moving to Arizona.

So folks here I am out of Florida after 22 years and I can guarantee you I will be homesick in the very near future. I won't be longing for Gainesville because I never ever not even once cared for that city but I will be longing for my home which resides in the hearts of my mother, father, sisters and brothers and one super adorable baby nephew (plus another on the way!).

I am grateful that I got to learn that very important principle since I firmly believe in Heaven and no matter what Heaven looks like or where it is, as long as I have my family it will be total bliss!

I Am Still Here!

I finally got blogger to cooperate with my phone since our internet has been unreliable.

Oh how I've missed my little bloggie. I feel like I've abandoned it. But never fear I am here to make recompense.

This is our new home. So far we like it (even with the annoying neighbor dog and the huge tarantula in our kitchen). It's a 2 bedroom townhome with a 2 car garage. Jon says he feels so grown up cause we got ourselves a garage. Now I only wish I had my wood working motivation! br />
This is the hospital that my husband works at. I like his schedule right now. He is learning the ins and outs so that he can be a great pharmacist!

I have lots to catch you up on so stay tuned.

AZ

Life lately has been incredibly busy, hard, frustrating, happy, funny, emotional, angry, silly... I can go on and on.  I have never experienced such a spectrum of emotions as I have these past 3 months.  And you know what, I wouldn't change it for the WORLD!  I love my baby daughter and I am overall happy :)

With that said, we are moving to Arizona at the end of this month.  Bring on another rainbow of emotions!!

Good Times

I celebrated my 27th birthday in Orlando surrounded by my whole family.  I absolutely loved every minute of it and I miss them already.  I was also fortunate enough to attend the LDS Temple to witness my little sister Stephanie make covenants with our Heavenly Father. We are so proud of her!  She will be serving a church mission for the next 18 months.  When did my little sister grow up so fast!  Family is my heart and soul.  I respect them and adore each and every one of them.

 Hello 27!

 Best birthday ever celebrated with my sweet family! 

 Candles scared her!

 Abuela Alba y Clara Lucia

 My not so little sister Stephanie with baby Clara

 47 & 21 never looked so good!

Clara LOVED getting a ton of attention, there was always someone there to hold her!

Sacrifice

Since Clara's birth I have been fortunate enough not to have suffered postpartum depression (PPD).  It does run in my family and I was worried I would get it.  In fact I was waiting for it to rear its ugly head.  I'm almost 3 months in and so far no sign of PPD.  I think I was so determined not to get PPD that I naturally surrounded myself with friends and family.  I am normally a homebody and I thought I wouldn't leave my house once the baby came...but the moment she was born I was itching to leave my house with the baby and show her around town.  It was so much fun taking her out and being surrounded by all the sights and sounds.  It was as if I was being healed by my beautiful surroundings.  This totally surprised me!

But, (there is always a but, huh!) as I have said in the past, I have PCOS.  In order to manage my PCOS I take birth control.  Obviously it's not to prevent a pregnancy but to correct my hormonal imbalance.  Now I have the pleasure of nursing Clara.  It has not been an easy road.  Lots and lots of pain and tears.  But I have never given up and for the past 11 weeks I have been nursing my growing baby.  Lately I have been feeling the hormonal imbalance.  While I was busy worrying about PPD, my raging hormonal imbalance came as a thief in the night.  I started yelling at Jon more often, my acne returned, I stopped losing my pregnancy weight (all PCOS related symptoms).

I believe that breast milk is the absolutely best food you can provide your baby, and the bonding experience is invaluable. Not to say formula is not good -- Clara takes a bottle of formula 3-4 times a week, but breast milk is formulated specifically for her.  If I go back on birth control I'll need to stop breastfeeding.  There is a birth control pill that is safer for breastfeeding and less likely to reduce milk supply but it doesn't have estrogenic effects and may not be effective for controlling my PCOS.

I feel real sad right now, my mind is clouded and I feel hopeless.  Now don't get me wrong, baby Clara makes me so incredibly happy and I have so much fun with her.  I just have surges of anger and bad feelings that I wish would go away.  I can't seem to filter myself and end up feeling so bad about things I have said.  Guilt is overpowering my conscience right now and I hate it.  I want to be free of it, and that's what's making me unhappy.  I want to feel like a good person again.

So if you see me and I don't seem myself, please know that it's not you, it's me.  I don't know what I will do.  Should I breastfeed my baby for a year at the cost of my weight, face, and horrible anger/guilt surges?  Should I use this as an opportunity to rely heavily on the power of the atonement to balance me out a little better?  I can't say I haven't tried before.  My best efforts at self-improvement never achieved the same results as taking the pill.

And so now you know what's occupying my thoughts.

Clara Can...

Read books on her own:

Feed herself:

Now what am I going to do with all my free time?  Oh wait, she still can't change her own diaper and boy can she go through 10+ diapers a day!!

0-2 Months

My baby is 2 months old!  Wahoo!  That makes me so happy!  It means I can indeed raise a lil' baby and be utterly happy.  I am so smily right now :)

Here are some fun facts about little Miss Clara:

She LOVES drinking milk and will take it in any form without discriminating.  She will take it in powder form, liquid form, and boob form. She will take it from a bottle, my breast, or even a cup! (we had to do this a few times as a suggestion from our lactation consultant). As long as it's food she will consume it and love you for feeding her.

She's a talker yes she is!  She spends hours gurgling and cooing and makes the absolute cutest noises I have ever heard!  I wish you could hear her!

She loves focusing on your face.  She will stare at you without breaking concentration. And when you look into her big brown eyes you feel like saving the world and being a better person.  It warms my heart to see those big brown eyes staring back at me.

She LOVES to kick. She spends hours kicking high, kicking low. When I place a blanket on her she will kick it off of her within minutes.

She has given us the puppy face! Ahh!  It breaks my heart but it's also the cutest face ever!!

She sneezes a lot :(  Poor girl, I'm really hoping she doesn't have Jon's allergies but instead my awesome immune system.

Her hair keeps growing and we love it!

She likes water- yay!  She does well with bath time but only if the bathroom is nice and warm.

She hates wet diapers.  The second she feels wet she cries and cries (and kicks and kicks) until you get up to change her.  We do this over 10 times a day!!!

She loves noise!  We went to a wedding recently and it was loud- super loud, and little miss missy slept throughout the whole reception.  I play music for her at home which makes her happy :)

3 Things

I was fortunate enough to receive some awesome goodies for Clara.  I wanted to share 3 things we received that stood out:

This is by far Jon's favorite gift that we have received.  It's a 'Clara' puzzle stool.  It's so beautiful and clever :)  It was given to us by Jon's childhood friend from Chicago. 

This cute pillow is so darling!  I squeeze it tight every night cause it's so precious :)  I love it! 

 This amazing blanket was sewed by my sweet friend Natalie S.  She is an incredible seamstress.  I was in complete shock by how awesome this quilt looks. You need to see it in person!  It took her over 20 hours- what a labor of love!  Clara is so lucky!!!

Today

Today was a rough day.  I had Clara with me all night without any relief from Jon.  I wanted to give him a break and sleep well so he can have a clear mind to work and get caught up on the hours he's been missing.  I was rewarded by being woken up with a cockroach tickling my back.  Luckily it didn't get near Clara but I had no idea where the roach went.  I was too exhausted to notice.  You know what kind of day it will be when your day starts out with a roach on your back.  I went in to say hi to Jon in his office when he had a sullen look on his face.  He informed me that his boss' (who is an incredibly sweet and compassionate lady) home caught on fire and her husband has been severely burned trying to put it out.  It was due to the hurricane.  The fire consumed her work laptop and so now Jon and his coworker are the only ones with the files to this important database.  Jon got teary eyed as he thought about his boss' husband and we quickly said a prayer.  Again, she is the sweetest and kindest person. I can't stop thinking about her and her family.

I had Jon dress and change Clara because I knew she would bring a smile to his face.  She has that affect on people.  Whenever I am sad, I hold her near and my heart just swells with pure happiness.  Jon dressed her in her white onesie which I treasure very dearly because I use this onesie for her monthly photo-shoot. I usually take it off of her but Jon wanted to keep it on her because she looked so cute.  I agreed and downstairs we went to start off our day.  Jon surprised me and made waffles (my favorite!)  He told me he thought I would bring Clara into his office while he worked so I could get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep.  Ergh!  Too late. 

After breakfast Clara had a poop explosion all over her treasured white onesie.  Oh no!  As Jon ran upstairs to bleach her onesie I thought I would be a good wife and mom and clean her poopy diaper on my own (normally Jon takes care of the majority of her diapers).  As I began to clean her diaper I started to gag.  Real bad.  I called out to Jon because I couldn't bare to touch her and when he made his way down I ran to the sink and started gagging for 10 minutes.  Jon cleaned her up real nice and I kissed him as my way of saying thanks.  Then for the next 4 hours Clara cried, cried, and cried. I held her for an hour while she slept in my arms and thank goodness for Oprah.  The minute I put her down she cried.  I fed her but she would delatch every minute making our nursing session a nightmare.  Finally after the 4th hour I called out to Jon and he swayed her back and forth while singing her favorite song, ABC.  He then put her in her playpen and she giggled.  Really Clara, this whole time I could have placed you in your playpen??  Oh vei.

Oh, and tomorrow she goes in for her immunization shots! 

That's all for today.  Let's see what tonight brings!  (Jon said he would take her 1st shift :) 

My cute girl after her diaper explosion and seeing mommy gag in the sink.  I love her!

2 Things

There are 2 things I love right now and I thought I'd share them with you.

I purchased these Leg Warmers for baby Clara recently and she and I love them!  Pants + baby = a hassle and these leg warmers are not only cute on my baby girl but they keep her legs warm! It's also nice not to have to pull pants off and on over 12 times a day.

Jon and I watch a lot of TV and we were tired of adjusting a ton of pillows for baby girl.  I purchased this Seat Lounger and wish I had it on day 1! It is so comfortable and fluffy. It even extends if you have a super large couch.  I had seen these before but thought they were silly until I read some of the online reviews.

Hooray for our 2 favorite things!

Baby Clara is modeling her awesome cool leg warmers and seat lounger- she's so cool!

Baby Gear

Having a baby came with lots of fun shopping!  I scoured the internet for the perfect baby must-haves and couldn't find a complete list.  On Monday one of the blogs I follow posted a complete list of baby items and I love it!!  Here is the link to her blog:  A Cup Of Jo

And here are some of the items I have used so far (newborn stage) and loved:

Disposable Multi-Use Pads:  I can't tell you how many times Clara has peed on her changing table or we have accidentally dropped a poopy diaper on the table and luckily it landed on these disposable changing pads.  We also have one tucked under Clara's crib sheet in case she pees on her bed or spits up pretty heavily.  

Soothies: These were SO nice to have when breastfeeding.  They are ridiculously expensive put totally worth it!

My Brest Friend: I like this versus the boppy pillow because it offers a nice back support (I use over 4 pillows and my back still hurts!).  I got the professional version because the cover is plastic and very easy to wipe spills versus having to wash a cotton slipcover only to have it shrink in the wash and not fit your pillow- boo!

Sleep Bra:  When your milk comes in your breast will be pretty sore.  I bought this nursing sleep bra and really like it. 

Nipple Butter: Although I use Lansinoh Lanolin, the cream can be pretty rough on sore nipples.  So I use the nipple butter instead and get the same results and it goes on soft and smooth on your nipples.  Also, here is a great tip: Apply a pea size of lanolin in your breast shield so that when you pump your nipples won't scrape against the shield. 

Snuzzler: I recently started using this in Clara's bed.  She tends to flip over and covers her nose and it freaks me out!  I want to see her breathing!  This head support prevents her from planting her face down.

Miracle Blanket: I love this swaddling blanket!  It's fool proof and when you've had 2 hours of sleep and can't remember which corners tuck where, in comes the miracle blanket!  Since Clara was born in the summer she sweats a lot and there have been times where we only use the miracle blanket and a diaper for bedtime. 

Sound Machine:  Oh my!  We could not get through the night without this sleep wonder.  After a good feeding, bath and lullaby's, Clara would still be restless.  Enter: white noise!  Clara's favorite is the rain sound. Jon actually stripped the lamb of it's sound machine and so we use the sound machine without the lamb. This makes it easier to put near her. 

Hand Mittens: Babies don't have good control over their hands and they ends up scratching their beautiful little faces.  These mittens are so cute! I bought them at Target.

Enfamil Formula: If you are dog tired at the hospital or if your colostrum isn't bountiful, the hospital nursery will feed your baby these enfamil infant ready to use formula bottles.  On day 2 of my stay I decided to let the nursery feed my baby some formula.  When I came home I exclusively breast feed/pumped but on the occasion my breasts needed a break I gave my baby these ready to use formula bottles.  Beware, they don't come with the nipple. I purchased the nipples HERE. Yes they are pricey but very convenient.

Changing Pad Cover: These are so soft and lovely. I have the chocolate and Ecru. The Ecru is much prettier but I like having 2 on hand.   

Play Gym: Everyday Clara takes a trip to the jungle! I love this play gym.  It has everything you could ask for in a play gym.

Puj Tub: I love this little tub!  It's soft and fits perfectly in any standard size sink.  I can fold it away flat with one hand while holding my bebe.  I know it's a little pricey but when you are a new mom and water = slippery baby, you will be very grateful for this little tub.

Bath Toy: I use these everytime Clara has a bath.  They hold water well and are so cute!   

Bath Sponge: This is the best baby sponge ever!  It is so soft and I feel like it gets Clara super clean. 

Disney Bodysuit: These are great!  The price is decent and the quality is very sturdy.  I feel like it will grow with her and I like that it has adjustable clasps because not all babies are the same size.

Bouncer: This is nice for when you want to take a shower.  It's small and fits nicely in your bathroom which is where my bouncer lives. 

Baby Nail Scissors: These are great for cutting baby nails.  Jon prefers them than the nail clippers.  

Diaper Bag: I purchased 3 diaper bags, petunia pickle bottom, (this is the one I own) juju bee, and skip hop. By far my favorite is the skip hop.  It has so many pockets which keeps things organized. It also hangs on your stroller without the need for diaper bag clips.  I like that it has a middle zipper which you can zip down to add more room in your bag or zip up for lighter days.  The petunia has a neat diaper station which is useful for when you don't have a diaper changing station near by- I also love the glaze feel to it.  The jujubee has a magnetic clips which are so nice when you are balancing your baby and trying to grab things out of your bag.

Johnson face wipes:  I use these when I don't give Clara a bath.  I tell Jon, "babe, will you Johnson wipe Clara please?" They smell good and I feel like Clara gets clean :)

Changing Table: I love my jenny lind changing table.  The price is good and the table is sturdy and classic looking.  I paired it with some cute baskets which is a good way to tie in your nursery theme.

Soothie the pacifier: These are given to babies at the hospital.  I wasn't originally going to give Clara a pacifier but it sure beats using my nipple as a pacifier (which is what she was doing for a week before I gave in to the pacifier). I went out and bought 4!

Swing:  I broke down and purchased a swing since Clara wanted to be held 24/7 which didn't allow me room for cleaning or cooking. She doesn't like the front to back motion and prefers the side to side instead.  (I know -how picky!)

NightLite: This is nice for when you don't want to turn on the lights which can wake the baby.

Co-Sleeper: This is Clara's first bed.  She had a bout with acid reflux which caused her to choke (and me to totally freak out!!) so we currently have her sleeping with us in the bed. I place the snuzzler in the cosleeper and wrap her in the swaddling blanket and place the sound machine in the cosleeper and have the nightlite next to her while she sucks on her pacifier. This is what we do EVERY single night!

Birth Announcement

I'm mailing out Clara's birth announcement this week. Here is what it looks like:

Clara 2 Weeks Old

My super talented friend Irene took the following pictures of baby Clara when she was 2 weeks old.  They are absolutely beautiful!  Thank you so much my sweet friend! (I'll upload some more throughout the week- it's taken 20 minutes to upload 1 picture). 

7 Year Anniversary + Clara's Blessing

Today was a most magnificent day.  It was full of happiness and pure joy!  Today we celebrated Clara's baby blessing as well as our 7-year wedding anniversary.  What a happy coincidence that the natural time for Clara's blessing came at the same time as our wedding anniversary.  Our love for each other, which has been sealed for all time and eternity, has brought this beautiful soul into our lives.  I can't stop staring at my little baby girl.  The faces she makes leave you in awe!!  And the way she stares at you with her large dark eyes, it's as if she's telling you that all is well and you should be happy :)

My family was, once more, amazing!  They came into town on Saturday night and my mom helped me with getting Clara ready and into her beautiful white dress (mom also swept and mopped my floors and made my kitchen look shiny!)

 left- mom and her best friend Esperanza holding baby Clara

My in-laws also came into town to watch the blessing and I was happy to see them.  

left- Allan, Christine, me and Jon-Bon

Clara was one lucky gal!  She was pronounced a beautiful blessing by her daddy and was surrounded by many worthy priesthood holders.  One in particular is Bishop Chevrier who left his congregation to drive 2 hours and participate in Clara's blessing. This meant the whole world to me!  How can I even begin to describe it!  Bishop Chevrier (who lives in Lake Mary, Florida with his beautiful wife and sons), was my Sunday School teacher growing up.  He has an impressive knowledge of the Gospel and he instilled in me an absolute love of the scriptures (he once was able to recite the whole book of Matthew during his earlier years!).  He reinforced the teachings of my parents and what apostles and prophets preached.  I will forever be grateful for his and he will always be my teacher!  He was also there while Jon was investigating the Church and supported our marriage 7 years ago.  I love that he was here today. Thank you.

Jon, Bishop Chevrier, baby and me!

The boys and a gorgeous baby

My beautiful family! (We missed you Stephanie!) 

Lovebirds!

Me and my sister Janeth and our kids! 

My dad and mom holding their precious grandchildren :) 

I love our new little family!!