SOMETHING I FOUND BEAUTIFUL!!

From "The Irrational Season" by Madeleine L'Engle

But ultimately there comes a moment when a decision must be made. Ultimately two people who love each other must ask themselves how much they hope for as their love grows and deepens, and how much risk they are willing to take…It is indeed a fearful gamble…Because it is the nature of love to create, a marriage itself is something which has to be created, so that, together we become a new creature.

To marry is the biggest risk in human relations that a person can take…If we commit ourselves to one person for life this is not, as many people think, a rejection of freedom; rather it demands the courage to move into all the risks of freedom, and the risk of love which is permanent; into that love which is not possession, but participation…It takes a lifetime to learn another person…When love is not possession, but participation, then it is part of that co-creation which is our human calling, and which implies such risk that it is often rejected.

Last Week...

Well this is it.. it's finally here.. today starts my last week of maternity leave... looking back i cant believe only a few weeks ago i was thinking of going back to work early... now i'm a mess one minute but excited the next... what i do know is that i'm going to miss my andrea so much... i think i miss her already as a matter of fact!! but i'm looking forward to getting back to work to have some financial freedom back....Also i know once i get past that first week back i should be ok... that's what i'm hoping for at least!!! It's crazy... theres so much back and forth about being a stay at home mom vs. a working mom... after being a stay at homer for the past three months i have to say IT'S A LOT OF WORK!!! GIVE CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE PEOPLE!! being a mommy is the hardest most demanding yet fantastic job anyone could ever have!!! and i truly believe that... and now i'll be getting a crack out of being a working mommy ... i have to say i'm blessed to be able to have a job to go back to and not to have to worry about finances AS MUCH!!! lol because lets face it there's always going to be something to buy or pay for.. its a vicious cycle.. but i know there are a lot of families who have it worse off and would give anything to have a dual income in their household so for that i'm grateful...also i was able to take off 3 months... many dont have that option either so i'm blessed on both fronts... i know my angel is going to be very well taken care of and i feel that God has in fact guided us to where he wants our princess so a big thank you to him!! as well as to my friend Adri who connected me with the right people :) I know all will be ok once we get used to this change... life is full of changes and i'm trying my best to roll with the punches b/c for those of you who dont know I HATE CHANGE!!! lol i'm really big on consistency so in a way this will be good .. this should hopefully be the final change leading us down the road of routine and normalcy. I'm just praying that God gives me the strength to get through this one last bump in the road... i know all first time mommy's go through it but it's just so hard to think about how quickly the time has passed me by....

Andrea's 2 Month Check

Today was Andrea's two month dr. appt...

She's weighing 9.10
Length: 21 3/4

She's measuring in the 25th percentile which the dr said was good considering she's staying on her curve.. also she was a small baby at birth ... So basically everything checked out today... once again i'm a happy and blessed mommy!!!

On the downside she had to get two injections and one oral vaccination!! SHE WAS NOT HAPPY!!!
she's still a little bit sore at the injection site and seems to be slightly uncomfortable so mommy and daddy are doing our best to baby her a little more than usual and make her as comfy as possible!!!

i love her so much and everyday that passes i'm learning more and more just how important a job it is to be a mommy!!! I'm loving every second of it. :)

On another note... this coming week will be my last week of maternity leave.. so i'm trying to prepare myself mentally for that one!!! Please pray that God gives me the strength to stay together when i have to leave my angel!!!

sometimes the thoughts just pour out.....

When i got pregnant... i had no idea how our lives were about to change... and here i am almost a year later and i cant even begin to wrap my head around everything that has happened in such a short span of time...God has opened so many doors and provided for us in AMAZING ways .. i feel very blessed as i review the past year in my mind. i look at our beautiful daughter and think of all the obstacles she has over come just since my pregnancy and i'm literally awestricken..from the diagnoses the doctors thought they were giving which ended up being the complete opposite of what "they" thought.. just goes to show science only goes so far THEN COMES GOD!!! During that time Gustavo got promoted twice.. he's doing something that he absolutely loves and excels at which is a blessing in itself because in this day and age plus the stresses of the economy it's not to often that you hear of someone who is actually happy where they work and is doing something they love. I'm so proud of him, he is a wonderful provider for our family and he takes care of andrea and i 100% there is no question when it comes to his unconditional love for us and for that i am so thankful. i can depend on him for every and anything, he's an amazing father and husband. I believe our marriage has been strengthened in this past year we have become closer which i didn't think was possible but every day we get to spend together is truly a blessing... remember life is short tomorrow is not promised and we should feel lucky to spend each and every day with those we love. As for me ... well besides having a beautiful family i've been lucky enough to watch God work in my life... i've seen his faithfulness, i've seen him give and take away... the good think about that is that he knows what he's doing... and sometimes if you look close enough he'll give you what you need before you even realize you need it.. seeing that is amazing...also seeing him piece together each and every cell in my daughters body putting her together like a beautiful puzzle what i like to call his perfect design...and then having a front row seat to her entrance into this wonderful world.. WOW it was truly seeing him work.. seeing his flawless hand every step of the way. He gave me a support system made up of my husband, friends and family to get me through just when i thought i couldn't do it anymore.. and he single handedly brought my daughter into this world in the most breathtaking of ways. I've also been blessed over the past year to be able to work along side of my parents who i love and respect more than words could express... they've taught me so much and i continue to learn from them each and every day.. but it doesnt stop at work.. they've influenced each and every aspect of my life from my marriage, to my work ethic, to the way i treat people and have relationships and now that i've become a parent i see so much of what they did and sacrificed for me and i am nothing short of thankful. i have an immense amount of gratitude toward my parents for teaching me what it truly means to raise a child. I've also been able to get into the wonderful world of photography which i believe will continue to be a part of me it's something i've fallen in love with and truly have a passion for...each day i learn something new and exciting and i can't wait to see where it takes me. Lastly i've been blessed to finally be able to say that i know what i was put on this earth for ... to be a mother to my daughter and a wife to my husband... to love and care for my family with all that i have and all that i am. It literally blindsided me as soon as andrea came into this world... THIS is what it's about...loving your family... its about quality NOT quanitity... time is fleeting and is something you can never get back..love those wonderful people god has placed in your life with all you have because they're there for a reason. enjoy your children with each smile and tear.. love the hard times all the while keeping in mind that there will be good times to follow... cherish your spouse because God chose them to be your counter part to be your team mate and to be your lover...

God is good!!

Weekend in Naples!!!

Gustavo, Andrea, and I had an amazing weekend in naples!!!

we left friday around noon checked into our hotel, had lunch took a nap and got ready for dinner... we even received an appetizer compliments of the chef to congratulate us on our beautiful new baby... turned out he saw us come in and he had a 4 month old... SO SWEET!!! just goes to show there's still thoughtful people out there... its the little things that mean so much to me...

Saturday morning we woke up early which by the way was great bc that was Andrea's first time sleeping through the night :) i was a very happy mommy!!! so we went to breakfast and then to the naples zoo which we'd been dying to go to!!! it was a lot of fun... we got in for free... once again because of our beautiful little one lol... we didn't spend to long there ... once it started getting hot around 10:30 it was time to get Andrea out of the heat.. so we left the zoo drove around for a bit... checked out a ritz camera which i loved!!! then walked around the harley davidson store... we were also able to meet up with bea and carlin for a bit who were also in naples for the day... but at that point it started raining so we headed back to the hotel to take a nap before dinner!!!

and today (sunday) we woke up had breakfast walked the pier... saw mommy and baby dolfins jumping out of the water...and took a drive to marco island which i learned i'm not to fond of lol... i guess i'm a naples girl at heart lol!!! i just find there's a lot more to do in naples...after marco island we headed home!! and here i am :) it was such a wonderful relaxing weekend... i loved spending such quality time with my beautiful family.. i feel so blessed :)

half and half weekend!!

I'm titling this weekend our "half and half" weekend because it was half lazy and half productive lol!!!

friday:
i looked up the morikami museum/japanese gardens online and turns out we got lucky because friday was the last night of what they call sushi and a stroll.. basically they serve sushi in the cafe and you can take a sunset walk through the beautiful gardens of the morikami!!!! so we jumped at the chance and drove up to delray on friday afternoon when gustavo got home... it was nice and we were able to get a few nice pics out of it... i cant wait to take Andrea over there when it's not so hot to take some beautiful pics of her there :) anyway it was really relaxing ... we had a great time together enjoying the BEAUTIFUL scenery!!!!

Saturday:
WOW were we lazy!!!! we spent alllll day inside due to crappy weather ... we finally decided to get out of our pj's around 8pm and go get some ice cream!!! so we headed out to coldstone had a nice desert and came back home just in time for bed lol!!! it was a great day to spend inside snuggling since it rained allllll dayyyy long!!!

Sunday:
What a great day...we started out by going to church for the first time as a family!!!! i'm so excited about that :) it was such a wonderful feeling to have my husband and my daughter with me words can hardly describe how happy i was!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!! then we went to chipolte for lunch with our good friends manny and sofie!! followed by a church softball game at a park nearby... Gustavo played while Andrea and Mommy cheered Daddy on!! it was wonderful!!! we had a great time... eventually the game got rained out so we headed home i cooked some dinner we all took showers and are now off to bed!!!

all in all it was a truly blessed weekend!! i love my beautiful family so incredibly much.. it's simple weekends like these that i thank God for...it truly is the little things in life that make it worthwhile... looking down to see the smile on my beautiful daughters face..feeling my husband reach over and grab my hand in the car...spending the day surrounded by those you love most...yup completely blessed is what we are...THANK YOU LORD FOR SHOWING US THE SIMPLICITY OF YOUR LOVE THROUGH THOSE WHO LOVE US.

GOOD NIGHT
~ANDREA'S MOMMY

Labor Day Weekend

Well i hope everyone had a fabulous labor day weekend!!!

for us it was GREAT!!!
We started out of friday around 11am since the hubby only works til 10 on fridays :) (blessed i know) we ran some errands and then came home and relaxed!!!
We went to check out university of phoenix for him ... i'm so proud of him for deciding to finish his degree... he has so much raw intelligence it leaves me awe stricken most of the time... besides he's so close to finishing it would be crazy not to... i know this coming from me of all people.. i guess we all have our little issues that need to be dealt with.. anyway the point is that i'm extremely proud of him i know in my heart that wherever life takes us it will be wonderful ...

friday night we had dinner at lime and walked around.. the weather was nice... so we enjoyed it... saturday we packed up Andrea and took a drive up to okeechobee... which i have to say was a really nice trip it reminded me of when i was young and i used to take those mini road trips with my parents... nothing fancy just some good quality time... those make up some of my favorite memories with my parents.. i can only hope that Andrea will be able to say the same in 25 years :)

sunday pastor Leo gave an AWESOME sermon at church... i was truly able to receive from it... in a nutshell it was about not trying to rush God!! He is a God of patience.. and you may not get your answer or what you're looking for overnight.. but it will happen in his time... "little by little" stop trying to rush him or take short cuts to get what you want when you want it!!! don't try to force things.. just allow him to bless you in his time!! Great message...

Exodus Ch. 20 a great chapter... i dont think i could possibly narrow it down to one verse or another .. the whole chapter was great!!!

Today Gustavo let me sleep in and took great care of Andrea while i slept... i'm so greatful for that .. i didn't realize how tired i was... then my parents stopped by to see us which was much needed :) i miss them so much since i've been on maternity leave... after seeing them every day it's definitely a big change... but October is rapidly approaching and i'll be back to work before i know it... i've decided not to go back early.... instead i'm going to enjoy the little bit of time i have left with my little angel... i'm going to miss her so much.. that i just want to soak this all in as much as possible!!!

basically our labor day weekend was great... no complaints.. we just relaxed together as a family .. i couldn't possibly ask for more... and tomorrow it's back to reality.. i'm going to miss my hubby :(

Here are some pics of our weekend :)

~Andrea's Mommy

TORN!!!

I'M SO TORN!! I want to go back to work... but i dont want to leave my baby....i love being home with her.. being a stay at home mommy is extremely demanding... i almost feel guilty for wanting to go back to work early...i feel like i should be enjoying this time i have with her because it's the only time i'll be able to spend with her at this level... kinda like i can never get these moments back so i want to soak in every second. I'm sure a lot of first time mommy's go through this... but also this is the first time i have been out of work since i was a teenager... so that in itself is kinda weird for me .. even though andrea is a full time job as it is... i just feel so frustrated by all these thoughts.. to go back early or not...missing my hubby...being this new domestic wife... which there's nothing wrong with ... i love it but that's also new... plus the demands of being a mommy are no easy task... now thinking about it i'm so happy that i decided to take this photography class just to be able to concentrate on something else for awhile... it's so easy to get completely wrapped up in my husband and my daughter that already just in the last six weeks i've completely forgotten about myself.. and i dont think thats healthy either... he helps me so much i just want to be able to find that happy medium where we can all have a good balance!! I'm praying that the Lord will guide me and us to be able to achieve all of this!! i need to get organized... and come up with a schedule... i know if i could plan out the rest of my life i would ... but that's not reality ... but maybe just maybe i could plan out the next day??? lol i'd definately settle for that at this point...

Only God Can Judge...

There's a phrase that coincidently is tatooed on my husband's ribs it's an old quote which reads "Only God Can Judge Me"

i think that can be a lot to swallow for many people .. myself included... although i understand that truly God is the only one to judge anyone that can be a difficult pill to swallow at times...We really have no right to judge anyone but tell that to the girl that was raped, the child that was molested, the person in prison for a crime they didn't commit, or the widow whose husband was murdered...how can any of those people be expected NOT to judge...i look around and i see so much beauty in life so much to be thankful for... so many opened doors courtesy of the Lord and i feel blessed... but at times i also see a lot that saddens me... i feel for those around me that have been overtaken with the wrong in the world because it keeps them from seeing that same beauty...

It can be so hard sometimes to let that wall down.. the wall that keeps part of you locked away from those you love because you're more terrified than you could ever let yourself realize...but sooner or later fears must be dealt with whether you're aware they are there or not... how sad is it that so many of us experience some traumatic experience or another at any given point in our lives... we THINK it's been dealt with only to come to find out years later that so much time has passed and we're no better than we were the moment the rollercoaster began....how can a person manage not to judge... not to feel they're owed something... the question is what??? what is it that could be gained from judging someone who has wronged another...what does hatred or disguist or anger get you??? where does it leave you... when does it make the memories stop haunting you? when does judging allow you to move on with your life, or stop the nightmares which inevitably come lurking... i guess the answer is that judging another in no way allows you to achieve any of those things... it's my opinion and observation that the only one that can achieve any of those is Gods Healing... he will heal your heart and put you back together again... it may take a very long time, you may find yourself years in the future looking back and realizing that yet another wall has come down allowing Him to bring you into the next step of your healing... but that's part of it...that's part of his love.. that's his way of saying ok now you're ready for this next phase... it will hurt in the beginning and i know you're scared but it's ok because i'm with you... being accepting of his healing is the only way to get from one chapter to the next..i guess i'm still learning that...

take a look around... soak in the beauty ... look at your children, your spouse, your family, your friends, your life... allow yourself to see the bigger picture, the simplicity in a child's eyes, the sincerity in their smile... understand that new life is God allowing you just a simple glimpse of his work and how truly amazing he is...

Look at your child so innocent and genuine...and realize that God has a plan for that child and for you... there's a reason you have been blessed in such a way... There are no mistakes in Gods Perfect Design.. and children are a heritage from the Lord...
Each time your little one looks up at you each time they smile each time they snuggle close to your heart... know that none of it would've been possible without him...He's allowing you that special gift...

look at your spouse and realize that you're not whole without the other... that God took Adam's Rib and from that created Eve... just the same he took your husbands rib and created you and vice versa...God brought you to the man or woman created precisely one for the other... how much more awesome does it get...

Look at your beautiful family and realize the support system you have which yet again was God's way of saying here are your angels on earth to help you along the way...

Look at your life and the path that has been set forth for you to walk... for you to realize God's plan every step of the way...

updates!!!

well last night was my first class for photography!! it was great ... definately very informative!!! i have a great feeling about the next 8 weeks :) i think i'm going to learn a lot and i plan to register for the other classes once i'm finished with this one!! its also pretty nice to be in the class room again...i love to learn new things... even if i'm just sitting there taking in what the instructor has to say.. its a nice way to detach and concentrate on what he's saying... i'm not going to say leaving the baby for a few hours was easy but it was a nice break...although i did miss her... just goes to show that i'll be ok when i go back to work even though im sure it will be difficult in the beginning!! i'm actually looking forward to working again...without running to and from ob appointments every week lol!!! anyhoo!! today andrea and i had another play date with adriana and gaby!! we ate at chipolte and had a great time!!! Andrea and i will be going to hang out with our new friends again on thursday!! yayyyyy :)

Gustavo started his flex schedule this week which is great... basically flex schedule is when he works an extra hour monday through thursday and fridays he'll be home around 10:30 YAYYY!!!! GOD has definately blessed us by allowing my hubby to have a job that is so flexible and has so many benefits... not to mention he loves what he does... and there's nothing that makes me happier than knowing that he's finally found something he loves and that he's great at!!! i'm so proud of him :)

I found a great new scripture very EARLY this morning when i was pumping lol!! it's 1 Corinthians 1:8-9 which says:

"He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God who has called you into fellowship with his son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful"

what a great passage!!!! AMEN!!!!!

Andrea is doing great!!! She's been holding her head up by herself for longer and longer periods of time!! My angel is getting so big!!! she woke up in such a great mood today she was full of smiles!! it's so great to watch her look up at me as if to say hey i know you're my mommy!!! its amazing... i love her so much :) i think that's about it for now... i need to go start dinner :)

xoxo
Andrea's Mommy