6 months official post

 Back on March 10, my baby turned 6 months old. I won't say how hard it is to believe that she's six months old already because I say it every time I blog most of you are mothers and know that time flies! ;) We had Maci's 6 month check-up on Monday, so I wanted to document everything. Her pediatrician is still on maternity leave, so this was our last visit with the "fill in" ped. For Maci's 9 month appointment, her doctor will be back, WOO HOO! Don't get me wrong, the fill ins were fine, but her pediatrician tells me how adorable my kids are every time she sees them, and who doesn't love to hear that?!?! I mean, her pediatrician is an amazing professional! ;)

 *Weight/height: 18 lbs 4 oz (81st percentile) and 27.5 inches (95th percentile). She's a TALL girl! :) 

What are you up to these days...

*Developmental milestones: your favorite mode of transportation is rolling. You've perfected that skill (belly to back, back to belly). You can sit up like a pro with some support, and you can sit up unassisted for a bit before you tumble over :) You now eat cereal, fruit and veggies. You continue to grab and pull at everything and it goes RIGHT into your mouth! :)

*You are still in size 3 diapers

*You wear a lot of 12 month clothing. Your cousins Vivi handed down a bunch of adorable winter 12 month clothing that I insisted you are able to wear, because goodness knows come next Fall/Winter they won't fit you! :) It's too long in the arms and a little loose in the belly, but because you are so tall, they fit fine length wise

*You continue to spend your days at Linnie's. You certainly make Linnie earn her money! ;) I love you to pieces, but you are very high maintenance (and I mean that in the most lovingly way possible) so if Linnie's isn't holding you, you get mad! (Sorry, I think Mommy caused that habit! ;)) But you are getting better and I'll leave it at that, before I jinx things

*Your brother and sister love you to pieces, and the feeling is mutual. You just smile and smile when you see them. But I'd have to say, I'm pretty sure I'm still your fav! ;)

*You transitioned to a crib on Saturday night (yes, at 6 months old! I loved you sleeping in our room or SAFELY co-sleeping!) You've done semi decent since you moved in there. You COULD do better, but I'll take what I can get at this point ;)

*You continue to drool (but not as much as before), but still no teeth!

*You continue to drink 5 oz every 4-ish hours. With your reflux, you just can't handle any more or else you just get gassy and miserable

My sweet girl, your smile lights up a room, your eyes are the widest most beautiful things I've ever seen. Everywhere we go people comment about your eyes, your dimple and how much you look like your big sister. You are a blessing! It breaks my heart that you're my last baby, but what an amazing baby you are! :)

 Last night (3.18.14)

 St Pattys Day

On your actual 6 month birthday (3.10.14)

"They" say...

I always wonder who this "they" is that people refer to ;) but I know one thing that "they" say that is SO true, and that is...TIME FLIES! Goodness gracious, how in the world is my Maci Louise, 6 months old already!?!? I mean REALLY, how is it possible!??! I get that time marches on, children grow up, but I feel like it was yesterday I was taking my final belly shot in the mirror, preparing to head to the hospital for my 3rd (and final ;( csection. She is halfway to ONE! I JUST.DONT.GET.IT! I've said this before, and I'll say it a million and one more times, I think time has flown even more so because she's our last, and I know it :( Regardless of why, it happens and my sweet angel is 6 months old today. We'll do the standard monthly photo shoot tonight, and then she'll have her 6 month appointment next Monday (so I'll be back with her "stats" :))

6 months ago! Gosh, I LOVED being prego!!!!

 Meeting my baby girl! :)

Heading out for errands this past Saturday

Maci Lou is (was ;) 5 months

So way back on February 10th Maci Louise turned 5 months, but that day came and went without an update, however, I do have a reason...my sweet baby girl came down with the stomach virus that day and needless to say, updating the blog was the last thing on my "to do" list. Then Tuesday night rolled around and I woke up with it in the middle of the night, and while I was "getting sick" (sorry!) in walks Mia covered in "sickness" so it was an awful few days! Then the biggest snow storm to hit Maryland came through Wednesday, into Thursday, which also happened to coincide with Manny (my husband) get the flu (as in influenza!) so while I wasn't even close to being recovered from the stomach virus, I'm outside shoveling 20 inches of snow because OBVIOUSLY Manny couldn't with the flu! So it was a very busy/crazy week. Prior to the stomach virus Manuel had his Pinewood Derby for Boy Scouts, Manny was inducted as Assistant Den Leader (in Scouts) and life has been busy and wonderful! Thankfully we were still able to get away this past weekend for the kids belated birthday gift. We headed to Ocean City, got a nice hotel and swam and ate a lot! ;) But here I am, with Maci's 5 month update :)

*Weight/height:this is an "in between" month where she doesn't have a well child check-up, so I have no clue. I'd venture to say she's around 17 lbs or so. As for height, NO CLUE! Next month will be more specific! :)

What are you up to these days...

*Developmental milestones: you are a rolling machine...back to belly and belly to back. You are able to sit up by yourself for a few seconds at time before you fall over (like a little weeble wobble ;)) You grab for EVERYTHING...hair, your brothers glasses, pretty much anything that is in your reach! You have the cutest giggle because you laugh so hard that almost no noise comes out! Your smile lights up a room and I'm pretty sure it's because of the single dimple you have on your right cheek (just like Daddy!)

*You are in size 3 diapers

*You wear mostly 9 month clothing...you are a bit of a chubber, but the main reason for the bigger size is because you are very long!

*You continue to spend your days at Linnie's (although between snow and sickness, I think you've only been there 2 full weeks since Mommy came back to work full time, in the office, in January!) You love it there!

*Your brother and sister love you to pieces, and the feeling is mutual. You just smile and smile when you see them. But I'd have to say, I'm pretty sure I'm still your fav! ;)

*So last month in the sleeping section of this update I mentioned how we started you on a bit of cereal at night, which caused you to sleep two days in a row of a 7 hour stretch, wellll, needless to say, that hasn't happened since then! :) You just aren't a good sleeper, AT ALL (just like your brother and sister!) I know I need to start letting you self soothe, etc. but I can't, not yet. So until then I guess I'm just going to continue to roll with the punches, and get up with you when you want to still eat every 4 hours. (I know that sounds SO crazy to some people, but it works for our family! :))

*You continue to drool (but not as much as before), but still no teeth!

*The day you got the stomach virus (before we knew you had it!) was the day we started you on some fruit. So needless to say, we haven't gone back to that, yet. You still eat 4 oz every 3 hours (or so). Your bedtime bottle is 5 oz and that gives me a 4 hour or so stretch. I've tried making bigger bottles to get you to go longer, but with your reflux, it just doesn't work! You get pretty gassy and miserable! :(

You bring SO much joy to our lives sweet girl! I LOVE YOU!!!
And now some pics from your 5 month "photo shoot"

Manuel Christopher is 8

How in the world are we here!??! Where, you ask? To this day, January 31, 2014...the day my first born, my only son, turns EIGHT! I say it all the time, and it's a huge cliche, but really, it floors me how quickly times go! :( I was looking at Manuel this morning, making a loom bracelet before school, and I thought, "He was JUST born. I mean really, wasn't it yesterday?!?? Heck, I'll even go as far as to say a year ago! But EIGHT years ago, NO WAY!!!"

I'm finding myself having a more difficult time with time (confusing, I know) lately, and I can't quite put my finger on why????? My mom turns 60 in April and that hurts my heart. I try to put it in perspective that yes, she'll be 60, but that's not old. In reality, she could live to be 90 and then heck, I'll be 62 by then with possible grandchildren of my own, so why be sad!??! I'm not sure!

My baby turns eight today and my heart aches to type that. I wonder if it's because I'm getting older, I know we can't live forever and the bottom line is time passes too quickly! No way around it! I guess I just need to learn to live in the moment instead of focusing on the, "I can't believe my last baby is already 4.5 months..." or "I can't believe...." Just live Christina! :)

But back to my post about my sweet boy...he is EIGHT today! Full of life, love of the outdoors, an increasing self confidence, and a heart that would make any Momma proud! Manuel would spend every single second, of every single day playing outside if he could. If we want to punish him, we make him stay inside and watch TV, seriously! :) It's awesome to have a child who loves to be so active and doesn't want to sit in front of the TV playing video games! He's a gem! He's not perfect, but such a good kid at heart!

And because Facebook is my go to on days like today, here is my status that pretty much sums it up:
at 3:30pm, EIGHT years ago we welcomed our sweet, kind, sensitive, suddenly confident, super cute, smart, Manuel Christopher into this world! He made me a Mommy for the very first time and thinking that I've been his for 8 years brings tears to my eyes! I should not be sitting here today typing this...my life was on a downward spiral to nowhere good, my life was so full of complete chaos, doing things that certainly should have killed me and definitely didn't have God in it! The very second I found out I was going to be a Mommy, ready or not, my world stopped and I started to live for this angel inside of me! I fail as a Mommy, more often than not, especially with Manuel because he's the oldest but he's quick to forgive and even at 8, jump up for a snuggle or hug Manuel Christopher, i love you more than life itself! Always remember what Daddy teaches you...love Jesus, work hard and protect your sisters! Happy 8th Birthday Buddy!

And because Manuel was born before (my) digital camera and blogging days, here are some AWFUL pictures of pictures of his first days of life:

 Heading home from the hospital

 The morning of my c-section (41 lb weight gain wth my first pregnancy! ;)

 Not sure why his skin looks orange and his face looks multi-colored...it wasn't! :)

 He was a few weeks old here :)

 Our first pic as a family of 3

10 hours of labor with ZERO progression (I wouldn't dilate past 1 because of a huge cyst I had that prevented Manuel from dropping) will clearly tire you out! ;) Hence my appearance! :)

The circus

Happy Monday Friends!

My apologies if you think this post is going to be filled with pictures of my family at the circus! When I say circus, I mean what is lovingly my life, at times! ;) When my plate seems so full (and in reality, when I step back, I know I have it SO easy!), I often think to myself, "How in the world does Michelle Duggar do it!??!" SERIOUSLY people! I feel in over my head with 3...I can't imagine 6 times that chaos! :) God bless her!

On Saturday, Manny had to work at 5am (it isn't often he has to work weekends, pretty much never, but when the opportunity for overtime arises, at a time when we could really use it, he doesn't say no). But with Daddy out of the house at 5am, that means the kids and I would be venturing to Mia's Saturday morning (9:30am) dance class together. As you can imagine, that is the last place my almost 8 year old wants to be on a Saturday morning! ;) So we walk out the door and it is about negative 600 degrees outside (or thereabouts! ;)) and windy. My mind wasn't working when I transitioned Maci to her "big girl carseat" (meaning the non-infant carrier one) because I swear I did it, and then we've had the coldest winter on record, so just imagine juggling a diaper bag, a 4 month old who has the wind and coldness whipping her in the face and taking her breathe away, and unhappy 8 year old, and a 4 year old that will inevitably slip and fall on the teeniest, tiniest piece of ice if there is one! :) We make it to dance, on time (YIPPY!) and when we go to leave, guess what, it's SNOWING!!!! :( (I know there are snow lovers out there, but this girl is NOT one of them!) Maryland has seen more snow this winter (and it's only January 27th) then probably the last 5 winters combined, so I'm OVER.IT! So once again, lets rush to the car, wind/coldness/and now snow, whipping in our faces and I set Maci in her car seat and cue the music...it's time for her bottle AND she's decided to have a blow out! (Thank you Maci for waiting until we got into the car! :)) So, our minivan is a perfect changing/feeding station so I position myself in the backseat and begin to clean up this mess. I overhear Mia say, "This is like a parade" (she's 4. I have no clue what that even meant! ;) to which Manuel replies, "No, it's more like a circus!" I just started cracking up...you're right kid! A complete circus! :) (that I wouldn't trade for the world, of course!) We get home to the comforts of our home and just spend the day relaxing, waiting for Daddy to get off work. Saturday was spent at family game night at my cousins house and we all had a great time! :) I didn't get to bed until after midnight, and for a Mommy who still wakes AT LEAST once (usually more) in the middle of the night to feed her baby, midnight is not a time I usually stay awake until these days! :)

Game night selfie :)

7am came awfully early but it was time to get up for church! There isn't much that keeps our family from church, lack of sleep or not! So I soldier through, get up, get everyone ready, out the door, ON TIME (with hubbys "help" of course! ;)) My husband is an usher/greeter at church (and Manuel helps him) so the girls and I go take a seat (Mia stays with me during the music portion of service, and then I take her to Sunday school during Offering. Maci has yet to stay in the church nursery, but the more vocal she gets, the sooner it's going to happen :)) as we are about to sit down, you guessed it, Maci pooped (see a theme here? ;) So instead of dragging the entire diaper bag to the bathroom, I grab a diaper, the pack of wipes, Maci and Mia and head to the bathroom to change the poopy baby. As I lay Maci down on the changing table, you guessed it...BLOW OUT! (Do you think I'd learn my lesson EVER!??!!) so back into the sanctuary I go, poopy Maci in tow, to get the diaper bag so I could change her clothes! :) Back out, and then back in again to finally enjoy the music...as I sat down, I just laughed..we are a circus act! ;) Our contemporary service is filled with lots of young families, so I'm sure if anyone even noticed, they sympathized and probably laughed a little too when Maci comes back in Mia's socks that are HUGE and pants that are too short (Mommy really has to work on keeping the spare diaper bag outfits up to date! ;))

Then this morning came, Maci was a cranky mess, hubby has already left for work when the kiddos get up, so I fly solo in the mornings, and the kids had a case of the Mondays, and I think, you know what this morning needs, a baby wearing a bunny hoodie...

And with that, I smile, the kids laugh, I (of course) post it to Facebook and my day is made! I've looked at this picture no less than 15 times today and smile each time! With the speed at which time flies (my heart aches that Manuel will be EIGHT on Friday!!!) I say, "Thank you God for my "circus" because there are SO many people out there that would trade their lives, in a heartbeat, for the life I live! THANK YOU GOD!" :)

Mia Grace is 4!

My intentions were to blog about Mia's birthday right after it happened, but you know life, it sometimes gets in the way! ;) Maci was really sick beginning on Friday, and long story short, had/has RSV, was in the hospital for a couple of hours, and is on the mend now, but things were sad and scary for a few days. But, back to my post ;) Mia Grace turned 4 on January 18th! I truly can't believe she's 4 already! Time flies, flies, flies!

My girl is quite the character...she is full of sass, orneriness, adorableness and love all rolled into one! :) She has definitely gone from baby to big girl overnight...she even makes a conscious efforts to say words correctly that before she mispronounced. For example, she always said, "hopistal" and now, she says, "Ho-spit-al" (we drive past a hospital everyday on the way to work/daycare :)) My sweet girl is growing up and I just love her to pieces!

This conversation happened on the way to work/daycare this morning:

Mia: "Mommy, was I born when Daddy was a baby?"
Me: "Um, no"
Mia: "Well where was I? ....Ohhh, I know Jesus was still making me!"
Me: "Yes, He sure was!"
Mia: "Was Manuel born when Daddy was a baby?"
Me: "Nope, Jesus was making him too!"
Mia: "Jesus was making me AND Manuel???? He must have been taking turns making us, or God was making Manuel and Jesus was making me."

 

 Mia Grace, I love you more than words and I look forward to your bright, beautiful future!

We are skipping friend birthday parties this year (and taking the kids away for a long weekend next month-Manuel's birthday is January 31st). But we did have family over on Saturday for cake and ice cream to celebrate the oldest two Gomez kiddos. Here are some pics:

 

Maci Lou is 4 months

Let me preface this post by saying, No, Maci isn't experiencing "3rd child syndrome" when it comes to me documenting her milestones! ;) I do an excellent job of keeping up with her baby book and monthly photo shoots, I just haven't been good about blogging those milestones. I decided today I would post about her 4 month stats :)

Maci Lou,
   Life has been absolutely awesome since you entered it 4 months ago. Mommy would be lying if I didn't say it's trying too (we think you're on the verge of outgrowing your colic, but you still have your moments, err, I mean hours! ;)) Everywhere you go everyone says, "Oh my goodness, she's a mini-Mia" and most of the time I agree but sometimes I definitely see your brother or Daddy! :) Time flies is SO cliche, but it's the truth...it's going even faster this 3rd time around. Mommy is no rush for you to grow up, so I MIGHT discourage you when you try to hold your own bottle! ;) Sorry sweet girl, but you're my last, I need this to not go TOO fast! :) I love you more than words can say. I look forward these upcoming months and all the super cute things you'll start to do (but again, take your time! ;))

*Weight/height: at your 4 month check-up on 1/10/14 (your exact 4 month birthday) you were 15 lbs 12 oz. You were 25 1/2 inches. Your head circumference is ALMOST off the charts...you're following in your big sis' steps with the big head! ;)
What are you up to these days...

*Developmental milestones: you smile, laugh out loud, SQUEAL (the other day you squealed SO loud, RIGHT in my ear that my ear literally ran afterwards! :)), and you've rolled from your belly to your back several times. You try SO hard to roll from your back to your belly but just can't get your arm out of the way! You bat at toys and hold them in your hand. Speaking of hands, you LOVE having your hands together, like you are praying, and then putting them in your mouth. It's super cute!

*You are in size 2 diapers

*You wear 6-9 month clothes because you are quite long!

*After being home with Mommy for 12 weeks, and then spending 1 day/week at home with Mommy and 4 days with Linnie for another 6 weeks, you are now officially at Linnie's, full time, 5 days a week. You love it there! Being there has definitely helped your "temperament" ;) Linnie adores you, just like she does your big sister and did your big brother

*Your brother and sister love you to pieces, and the feeling is mutual. You just smile and smile when you see them. You have begun to grab at your brother glasses and he thinks it's just so funny (Mommy and Daddy, not so much! ;))

*Since Mommy hasn't slept for almost 8 years ;) I'm not expecting you to be sleeping through the night anytime soon! :) Up until 2 days ago, the most I had gotten from you was a 6 hour stretch, but on Monday we introduced you to cereal (which you LOVE) and I give you a small serving for "dinner" and then a bottle before bed and you've given us a 7 hour stretch two nights in a row, WOO HOO! ;)

*You drool like a machine, so I'm not sure if you're teething, but I think you might be! :) Mia didn't get her first tooth until she was 11 MONTHS, so we'll see what you do.

*You eat 4 oz every 3ish hours during the day (we've tried up'ing so you could space out your feedings a bit, but with your reflux every time Mommy tries it makes you gassy and miserable so we'll just keep it where you are for now. Your final bottle before bed is 5oz.

I think that about sums it up! :)

Maci's 4 month homemade photo shoot

Hanging out on New Years Eve :)

 

Quick story...on Maci's 1 month birthday, I was explaining to Mia how it was Maci's 1 month birthday, etc. well to a child, the word "birthday" means cake, singing, candles, so she insisted that we buy Maci a cake and sing Happy Birthday to her, and so we did! :) It is now a tradition on each of Maci's monthly birthdays we sing to her and she "blows out" candles over some sort of dessert (if we don't have cake on hand! :)) No, she doesn't actually eat the dessert but it makes for cute pics and fun traditions! :)