Happy Birthday, Auntie Ann!

You have the biggest heart, and are the sweetest sister and auntie. We hope you had a fabulous b-day. We are so happy you and Jesse found each other and can't wait for the two of you to come visit us on the east coast!!

xoxo

Gabriela's New Trick

I've mentioned before that every once in a while, Gabriela works up all her strength and concentration and focuses really, really, extra super-duper hard to try rolling over. Here's a (kind of long) video of one of her attempts over the weekend.


Not an easy task for a little two month old! Well, she must have been practicing all night in her sleep because the first thing she did when she opened her eyes this morning was roll over. I put her on the floor and she did it again and again. Check out the difference just a few days makes in her awesome and amazing rolling over ability!

It's Recipe Time!!

This is for all you Pesto Lovers out there... Courtesy of The Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen. This recipe is so easy, you'll be able to make it sans recipe card in no time

3 packed cups fresh basil leaves
3 to 4 large cloves of garlic
1/3 cup lightly toasted pine nuts or walnuts (optional)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 grated parmesan
salt & pepper to taste

1. Place the basil leaves and garlic in a food processor or blender, and mince well.
2. Add the nuts, if desired, and continue to blend until the nuts are finely ground (trust me, you desire the nuts)
3. Keep the machine running as you drizzle in the olive oil. When you have a smooth paste, transfer to a bowl and stir in the parmesan. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. To serve on pasta, place room-temp pesto in a warmed serving bowl. add hot pasta and toss thoroughly Instead, I usually mix a ladle full of hot pasta cooking water in with the pesto and then mix that in with the pasta.

When I make pesto, I always put in a healthy squirt of lemon juice. I also always dump in a ton of fresh spinach in the serving dish along with the cooked pasta. You can even cut up some zucchini and/or asparagus spears and throw them in with the pasta water at the last minute...or even peas. Just last night we had pesto with fresh spinach and halved grape tomatoes and don't forget to save some extra toasted nuts to sprinkle on top all pretty. use whole wheat penne mmmm....

You can even freeze some pesto sauce for a super easy dinner another night. Can you tell this is one of my favorite things to make???

Try it!!

Thank You, Crystal City Marriott!

One of the biggest disadvantages of living on the 12th floor with no balcony is that we don't have a garden anymore. When we lived in Gilroy we always had a great garden with tons of herbs and tomatoes and squash and lettuce and spinach. But what I miss most is walking outside to cut fresh herbs for my dinner or lunch, or breakfast for that matter.

One day early this summer as I was walking to work, I noticed this tiny herb garden outside the Crystal City Marriott hotel. I thought it was so funny because it even had a sign in it that said "Crystal City Marriott Herb Garden". What does a hotel need a tiny baby herb garden for?? It cracked me up.

But boy has this garden ever been a life saver. Lane picks fresh basil every couple of days on his way home from work. Today I'm going to help myself to some thyme, and when we make garlic-rosemary potatoes you know where I'll get that fresh rosemary from.

I'm halfway tempted to try my hand at making mojitos since they have tons of fresh mint as well.

So thank you, Crystal City Marriott for anticipating my summer herb needs. We have had lots of delicious fresh pesto dinners that wouldn't have been possible without you.

2 Month Doctor Visit

Well, Gabriela weighs exactly 12 pounds. She is 24 1/2 inches long, so I guess it was accurate of me to say she was two feet tall on her passport application. Gabriela's passport arrived in the mail the other day. I'm going to have to figure out how to post her passport photo because she looks like a little Mexican baby on a greencard. It's soo cute.

Just a few days ago, Gabriela realized that she can put her hands in her mouth. As a result, she's spent countless hours trying to fit her whole fist into her mouth. She even uses one hand to help prop the other one into her mouth. We know when she's found success because we hear these really loud slurpy sucking sounds coming from her.

Here's how I found her when I went to check on her napping, our little self-soother. It's a wonder she didn't poke her eye out.

Our Busy Weekend

Starting with Thursday... Gabriela and I took and adventure on Thursday to the Red Cross. She was such a good girl on the metro and at the office. Although, after about an hour she was done and got a little fussy so we high-tailed it out of there. Here are my lovely coworkers, Betsy, Mark & Maria, holding Gabriela.

That evening, Katie and I went out for margaritas to catch up and have some girl time. I left Gabriela with her daddy. I have to admit, it was really weird to be out and about without a baby or a diaper bag, or even a big huge belly to lug around.

Friday we took a very long walk using our stroller for the first time. That's right, Gabriela is so happy being carried around in her Baby Bjorn or Moby Wrap that up until then, we hadn't even used our stroller yet. We went to the library, a place I hadn't been in years. I got a library card, and borrowed some books, just in time for Gabriela to realize she was in the stroller and wanted to get out. (I forgot to give her the "Library Voice" talk before we left.) Luckily I had prepared for this and brought along plan B - the Baby Bjorn. We happily made our way home and even managed to see some butterflies along the way.
Yesterday we went down the street to Crystal Market. For a few weeks, Eastern Market vendors are in Crystal City. We saw all the artisan vendors - lots of handmade jewelry, cool furniture, handmade soaps, handmade bags, scarves and shawls, and nice live music. We bought our first Christmas present of the year (but I'm not saying what it is or who its for).



Today we are going back to attend the Crystal City Wine & Jazz Festival with some friends. I love that our neighborhood has lots of stuff going on, and all we have to do is walk out our apartment building to enjoy the fun.

Gabriela is TWO months old!

Today Gabriela is two months old. She is such a little sweetheart. She's been smiling for the last month, and just while we were in California, she really started oohing and ahhing. Every morning she wakes up as her happy little self and we spend some time "talking" to each other. I talk, but she coos and smiles and even squeals when she gets really excited.
Gabriela is growing so much. We don't know how much she weighs just yet, but she's got to be at least 12 pounds, maybe more. Her 2 month well baby visit is on Monday, so we'll report back then. She's very strong too - always holding her little head up and trying to put weight on her legs.

Lane downloaded a ton of poetry in all different languages for Gabriela to listen to. It actually calms her down when she's a little fussy. And, she's hearing all the phonemes of different languages. After babies get past a certain point, they can't distinguish phonemes from languages other than their own. So Gabriela listens to a ton of different languages including (but not limited to) Portuguese, Spanish, French, Romanian, Croatian, Russian, Greek and Italian.

Gabriela continues to roll over once in a while, but not on a regular basis. Each time, it's still challenging for her and she fusses a little as she gets over. But, boy is she determined! The funny part is that she doesn't even like being on her tummy. So she does all this work to get over, and then is upset when she gets there.

Gabriela is enjoying longer periods of awake time during the day. She's a good little sleeper, sometimes going 4 or 5 hours without waking up to eat. We are really enjoying our bedroom set up with the co-sleeper right by the bed. When she wakes up, she just starts squirming a little bit. I reach over to get her and feed her before she wakes up all the way (and before I do as well), and she falls right back to sleep when she's done eating. Lane doesn't wake up, there's no baby crying, and I don't really even know how many times she's getting up because neither of us is really that awake.

I'm starting to realize that it's going to be time for me to go back to work before long. It will be so strange not spending every moment with our little girl. I've got to enjoy this special time we have together before I go back (November 3rd).

Gabriela's First Shower Revisited

We looked through Lane's baby pictures when we were visiting in CA and were surprised by the similarities in these two pics. Even the shower tile is the same!!

Our Trip Home

We did it. We took a total last minute trip to California since we knew we wouldn't be returning for the holidays and we wanted Gabriela to meet her fabulous family.

She was great on both flights. On the first one, she was as alert as can be and we walked up and down the aisle of the airplane countless times so she could stare at everything. On the way home, she practically slept the entire time. We got lots of compliments on her behavior on both trips. Yay, Gabriela!!

Gabriela managed to meet Grandma Chaney, Grandma & Grandpa Grover, Auntie Meliss & Uncle Nate, cousins Chaney & Beau, Auntie Adrienne and Uncle Ian and cousins Claire & Natalie, Auntie Ann and Uncle Jesse... not to mention, meet her Papa, see Nana again, meet Uncle Matthew, Auntie Theresa & Uncle Bobby, her cousin Andrew, and Uncle Tim & Auntie Kryztie and her cousin Mina. We even snuck in a few visits with the Pintellos and the Hepners, and our friend Malia.

Some favorite tidbits from our visit:

the Santa Barbara Grovers deciding last minute to drive 4 hours up to Gilroy to see us after Claire got tears of happiness in her eyes at the idea of getting to meet her first girl cousin

Beau's jaw dropping to the floor in absolute amazement when he asked his Uncle Lane..."(gasp!)... you know about Star Wars?!?!?!!"

Chaney totally rocking out and air guitaring to his favorite band - Led Zeppelin. He also stared at Gabriela and said it made him wonder what it will be like when he has his own children one day. (he's 7)

Claire & Natalie rummaging through their bedrooms so they could bring bags of gifts for their cousin, because they couldn't meet her without giving her presents!!

Andrew sweetly offering to serve Gabriela a glass of water when he noticed she had the hiccups and also asking if he could make a tiny, tiny pizza for Gabriela.

Gabriela still can't wait to meet her Uncle Noal, Auntie Cati, Auntie Cynthia, cousin Christianne, Auntie Tati, and cousin Luis Carlos. Holy Moly, that's a lot of family.

Happy Birthday, Tim!

My youngest brother, Tim celebrates his b-day today. I love that Tim and Lane are like brothers to each other, Tim's sense of humor and ginormous heart. He is a great brother and uncle and daddy. We are so excited to see him!!

p.s. Tim, we need some more recent pictures with you, man!

Shots for our little girl

Gabriela had her appointment for her shots today - a little early, but that's because we're flying to CA to visit our family in a few days and we all thought it was best that she get vaccinated before going on an airplane to go across the country.

First, she got an oral vaccine. She wasn't too pleased with having something other than breastmilk in her little mouth. She kind of cried and wouldn't swallow it right away. As if we didn't already know she was unhappy about this, she made double sure by THROWING UP all over herself and her momma and her Moby. So much for that vaccine. And boo for me for not bringing another shirt for myself.

The worst was when they gave her three shots. After the first one, I was surprised Gabriela didn't start screaming right away. I think it was because she was in utter shock; shortly after the unexpected silence came the most pathetic and painful wail I have ever heard from her. She was truly in pain and it broke my heart. Even worse, we had to do this all over again two more times. I just felt so terrible because there was no way to warn her, to explain why she had to do it or what to expect.

I have to say though, she really was a trooper. I nursed her right after and she calmed down shortly, and even gave me a couple of smiles in the doctor's office. We went for a walk before getting back in the car, since she sometimes has meltdowns in her carseat. She fell asleep on our walk and slept through the car ride home.

She's so cozy sleeping in her little wrap still, that I haven't bothered to take off my spit up shirt because I don't want to disturb my sleeping baby who's already had a rough day. Ahh, the joys of motherhood.

Weekend Recap

This Saturday was chock-full of things we needed to do that day for sure. Of course, this was also when the downpour of Tropical Storm Hanna decided to grace us with its presence.

Stop Numero Uno - the post office to get Gabriela her passport, which she needs by Oct 7 because that's when we're flying to Peru. The post office really needs to get with the times and invest in a new camera to take passport pictures. I know, we could have done them somewhere else, but with a baby we figured one stop shopping was worth the convenience. So the post office lady brought out a camera that was like 1 foot by 1 foot with huge handles on the sides and no viewfinder. It must have been around since before Lane and I were born. It was a polaroid camera too, so we had to wait and wait for the picture to be developed. When it was finished, it looked like the picture was taken in 1970, the background was a lovely yellowish color. Thank goodness for us, we got it on the first try. Another baby had to have his picture taken like 5 times.

What is with passport pictures for babies anyway?? They are good for FIVE years. By that time, you could probably have a picture of any baby and no one could tell you any different. And, the parent isn't supposed to be in the picture at all, but the baby has to have her eyes open, and sit up when they can barely even hold their own heads up. What is up with this?!?! Thank goodness Gabriela is so good for the camera.

We also got to go to the birth center in the downpour. Everything is a-okay. I'm really lucky I haven't had any baby blues or post partem depression and that nursing has been going well and that we have a beautiful and healthy baby.

Next, we went to multiple grocery stores in all the rain, and for the first time, actually removed Gabriela's car seat and brought it with us. It's usually so much easier to just carry her with a baby carrier.

As soon as we got home, the rain ended. Whaddya know.

That night we watched.... get ready for it... Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure with some friends. We were talking about it, and since we hadn't seen it in ages, decided it was time for our neighbor to bust out the VHS movie. It was good times.

You may be wondering what the grand finale might be for a fun and errand filled day such as this one. Well, as soon as we got back to our apartment, the fire alarm went off. Gabriela's first fire alarm! So we got her and our baby carrier and our diaper bag and promptly walked down 12 flights of stairs to hang out until the firefighters came to turn off the alarm. I thought for sure Gabriela would totally freak out because the fire alarm is so deafeningly, piercingly loud. I covered her little ears as best as I could, and she didn't even make a peep. What a good baby.

Sunday we made some delicious brunch food - smoothies, homemade muffins, roasted potatoes and asparagus and fresh pineapple for our good friend Morgan and her husband Andro. We've been friends with Morgan since 8th grade and are so glad she was kind enough to marry a guy whose family lives right by us so she has an excuse to come visit us on the east coast.

Guess who rolled over on Saturday?!

Our cutie patootie baby girl, that's who! Gabriela can easily roll from side to side, but she has to muster all her strength to get the rest of the way over. She grunts a lot and has to concentrate very hard to finish the job. Maybe that's why she's not rolling over all the time... yet.

Gabriela Smiles for You

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

Our sweet nephew, Andrew is turning THREE today. He seems so much bigger though, with the things he says and does. He plays musical instruments, gardens, and bakes. He is always talking these days about his new cousin, Gabriela... how he will share with her, give her lots of kisses and gifts, and how he can't wait for her to come visit! We can't wait to see you either, Andrew. Happy birthday!! Love, Auntie Elena, Uncle Lane, and Gabriela.

Happy Birthday, Adrienne!

We love you, Adrienne. You are a great friend and wonderful mother. We're so glad that your family was able to come visit us earlier this year, and we can't WAIT to see you again. Have a fantabulous day today - you deserve it!!!

Folks, You'll Never Believe it!

After receiving bottle advice in my comments (thank you, kind readers!), I rushed out to Target to buy the Playtex Drop In Bottle system with NaturaLatch nipples. I tried giving Gabriela a bottle when she was still sleepy so she wouldn't notice the difference, and she kind of gave a few half-interested sucks, but as soon as she realized what was going on, she immediately let me know she was NOT pleased. I was still happy because that's more than she would do last time. When Lane got home, I asked him to try giving her a bottle and she took it immediately from him, no problem! He even gave her another bottle later that evening. I'm so relieved because she is going to have to start taking bottles when she goes to daycare.

We submitted paperwork for one daycare and the lady said she should have a spot for us. I'm so glad we liked her and her approach to caring for children...especially since this was the only place without a waiting list of a YEAR or more.

In other news, Gabriela didn't wake up to eat this morning until 4:45 am! And then she didn't wake up again until practically 9 am. What a good little sleeper.

The other night, she woke up at 11 pm and decided this was a great time to practice rolling over. She'd roll from one side onto her other side and grunt and whine as she tried to get all the way over. I caught her roll over yesterday, but I kind of feel like it was a fluke and maybe she did it by accident, because she hasn't rolled over since.

Our baby is growing so fast!

Little Piggies

I couldn't resist buying some hair ties today to experiment with Gabriela's wild punk rocker hairdo.

What you can't really see, is that I had to make a third pigtail in the back to keep her hair from sticking straight up in between her piggies.

Happy Birthday, Cynthia!

Happy Birthday, Baby Sister :) I love our friendship and sisterhood. I know you have a crazy day today. Try to relax and enjoy it, just a little bit. I can't wait to see you next month. Here are some pics from your big NYC Birthday bash 2 years ago. We always have so much fun together! Love you tons!!