Spain - Week 1

Here are some of my pictures from Spain.

My First Earthquake

One of the things that scared me the most about moving to California were the earthquakes. I've grown up with hurricanes my whole life which may seem scary to most people but as for me, earthquakes seem worse. Supposedly there have been several earthquakes lately but they have happened at night while I was sleeping or they happened too far away for me to feel. I've been waiting to feel one and I did for the first time today! I was sitting on the couch reading Harry Potter while Marisa was taking a nap. I felt a rumble but I didn't think anything of it because I've felt that in Georgia before a lot. But then in a split second I was like, wait, I'm in California! Right after I thought that I quickly put my book down, perked up on the couch, and then I felt a shifting. The ground was going back and forth. I look down and I was like HOLY COW! It happened very quickly, like a second or two, but I sat there waiting for more. My next reaction was...Marisa! So I walked to her room to see if she was still sleeping and I just stood there by her crib for a little bit in case more earth shaking movements were going to happen again. haha. Well, obviously nothing more happened. I sat back down on the couch and just smiled...haha. Awkward reaction I know but I thought to myself, "I just felt my first earthquake! Cool!" I double checked on the news to make sure I wasn't going crazy or anything and sure enough it was. 3.9! Ahh! Scary! haha

Milestones

Marisa is in the beginning stages of several new milestones which is always so exciting for us. First of all...teeth! She is getting teeth! Awhile ago she was drooling soooo much so we knew that she was teething. Then, a few days ago I noticed that the top of the bottom two teeth were just right under her gums. Well, this morning while I was making her smile and laugh, I saw the top of one of the teeth just barely break through her gums! So to make sure I took my finger and rubbed her gums and I felt her tooth! So there is this little sharp white tooth sticking out of her gums! Sooo amazing! My baby has teeth already?! I still feel like I have newborn.
Secondly, she sat up for the first time today! We were at my sister-in-law Kari's house this afternoon and Kari sat Marisa down on the floor and placed Marisa's hands in front of her so they could help support her. Kari slowly let go and Marisa was just sitting there for awhile until her arms gave out! And she did that twice! Yeah, Marisa!
And lastly, she can hold her own bottle now! I read online that around 5-6 months babies can hold their own bottles. I was so excited to read that because I would like to just lay her down, hand her a bottle, and have her feed herself while I do the things I need to do. I knew it was going to be hard because it meant that I had to break a habit of hers. She likes to eat like this....

I have no idea why she does it but it all started when we went to Colorado for vacation. Ever since then, whether it is dark or light, noisy or quiet in the room, she covers her eyes...haha. Anyways, I took both of her hands and placed them on the bottle. She fought me at first because she wanted to cover her eyes but I kept trying every time I fed her. I guess it just clicked because now she automatically grabs hold of her bottle everytime I give it to her. I still have to sit by her and help her out every once in awhile but for the most part she does it by herself!
One of my favorite things to do, especially in the morning, is to prop her up on a pillow that is slightly reclined, snuggle right next to her, cover us both with a blanket, and read a book while she feeds herself. I love it! Yesterday morning we both feel asleep on the floor while snuggling. It was the best thing in the world to wake up to her and see these big brown eyes looking up at me with a heart melting smile.
I LOVE MOTHERHOOD!

Missing him...

Tim left early this morning for training in Spain for work. Which means that it is just Marisa and I for two weeks. Yes, two weeks. I was missing him all day today because I knew that I had two long weeks ahead of me and also because on Saturdays he is usually home with us. I tried to block it out of my head but now that Marisa is in bed and I am just sitting on the couch alone, it just breaks my heart and I miss him like crazy. I know that during the day I'll be fine but it's at night that will be hard. I absolutely dread having to sleep by myself. That is the worst! I'll just have to keep myself really busy with reading Harry Potter 3 and making hair accessories for Marisa, which I am really excited for. Well, anyways, I love you so much Tim and come home to us soon!


Our honeymoon in the Bahamas!

How about Squash? Sure!

We have introduced another vegetable to Marisa tonight. Squash! And to our surprise she loved it! She only made a face at the first taste of it and one other time but after that she kept wanting more. If we didn't feed it to her fast enough she would start to whine. When she tried peas she only ate half the jar but this time with squash she ate the whole thing!

First day of "Real Life"

Tim started his first day of work today! And it was our first day of "real life". Tim went to work while I stayed at home with Marisa. I'm still not used to the idea that we are no longer college students. I still feel like one. But I absolutely love this new chapter in my life and I'm definetly getting used to it.
Well, today Marisa and I went to Babies "R" Us which is always fun because that store is awesome. I just want to get everything because it is all so cute. I bought outlet plugs and a gate to start baby proofing the house. Marisa is getting pretty mobile now. She rolls to wherever she wants to be and can spin herself in place on her tummy. She also puts anything in her mouth and wants to touch everything. I know that in no time she will be crawling. Definetly time to baby proof!
We also bought a new toy! Marisa seriously only has like 5 toys and she tends to get bored at home because she wants me to hold her and play with her all the time. I obviously don't have the time or energy to be doing that all day so I decided to get her a stationary entertainer. She can sit in it, play with the toys, and bounce away. I put the entertainer together while she was taking a nap so she could be surprised to see it. When she woke up she took one look at it with big eyes and started reaching for it immediatly. She was so happy! I was trying to get her attention to take a picture of her smiling but it took forever because she was so busy playing. After awhile I was able to get a few pictures. Pretty funny to see her bouncing and smiling!

Baby Cougar

Happy to bleed blue! Go Cougars!

Lil' Kitchen Helper

One of Marisa's favorite things to do is to sit in her Bumbo and watch me cook and clean in the kitchen. It is so fascinating and entertaining to her. Today, to keep her even more occupied, she grabbed my little whisk and played with that while she watched me. It was cute until she started to knock down the containers from my spice rack and my utensils from its utensil holder. Well, even then it was funny and cute. =o)

P.S. Marisa is 5 months old today!

Date with my love

Tim and I went to the Newport Beach temple this morning and did a session for our date. It's hard to believe that a little over a year ago we got married in this temple and now we can go anytime we want! It's our temple now! After the temple, we went to California Pizza Kitchen for lunch and shared the BLT pizza on wheat. My fav!!!
I love you Tim!

Just plain beautiful!

I wanted to take a cute picture of Marisa to complete a photo gallery of her in our hallway. I ended up getting several adorable pictures. She is just plain beautiful!

Peas? I'm not so sure...

As you can see from Marisa's face, her reaction was as expected. haha Wouldn't you make that face if you had to eat pureed peas?! Tim and I just busted out laughing when she had her first taste of peas. Yummy! But oddly enough, Marisa kept eating despite the faces she would make every once in awhile. She was pretty tired during dinner so she didn't go all crazy and make a mess everywhere. She did a great job eating though! My big girl!

Marisa's Announcement

I have been playing around with all sorts of programs and tutorials that I have recently found to make a photo birth announcement for Marisa. I know it has been way too long since Marisa has been born but I thought I would make one anyways just to have at home. Cute, huh?

Going once, Going twice, Sold!

Tim and I went to the California Auction Dealer Exchange this morning with a good family friend of ours to buy a car. We had an idea of the kind of car we wanted and what our price range would be for it. So, right when we got there we printed out a sheet of paper that listed the cars we were interested in. Before some of the auctions started we went to the parking lot to look at them and I spotted the exact one I wanted. When the car rolled up to be auctioned, we started bidding. Let me just say that it was the absolute coolest thing I have ever seen. The auctioneer was like speaking a million miles/hour and I actually understood him! (Well...I understood the numbers but I have no clue what he was saying in between.) Anyways, we won the auction and now we have our new car!


Our 2005 Toyota Camry!

High Chair Happiness

Marisa sat in her high chair for the first time during dinner tonight. She was so happy during dinner squealing, screaming, and smiling. I couldn't resist, I had to take a picture.

BLING BLING!

The moment I have been waiting for since I found out I was having a baby girl...

Marisa got her ears pierced!

This morning we went to a pediatrician in Irvine that does ear piercing. When the doctor pierced her first ear she had a delayed reaction and then cried for like 3 seconds. After that, I thought to myself, "Well this will be easy." The second ear was worse though. When her other ear was pierced she quickly cried a lot harder and longer. It was sooo sad to see her put her bottom lip way out and a little tear start to form and fall down her cheek. But she looked so dang cute crying with little diamond studs in her ear. Once we got in the car to leave, Marisa was her happy little self just babbling away.
She has been fine ever since and she doesn't even know that she has earrings on. She doesn't grab at her ear or anything.
In exactly six weeks I can put on the earrings I bought for her for Christmas before she was born. Marisa looks soooooo darling with earrings!!

Orange County: Home Sweet Home

We have finally made the big move to Orange County! Our new "Home Sweet Home". We moved into a two bedroom apartment and we absolutely love it. We have an ocean view from our front porch! How awesome is that?! Marisa has her own room and has been doing just fine sleeping there by herself. Our place seems really big and spacious considering we have been in a one bedroom for over a year now. It's definetly not a house, like all of my friends are getting, but that is the price we pay for living in California.
We are especially lucky to be living near family. My sister-in-law Kari and her family live within minutes from our place. I'm also especially glad that Marisa will grow up with some of her cousins. She absolutetly loves them! She never whines when they are around. She only whines at home because she has no one to play with and pay attention to her as much as her cousins do.

On the Go!

Our family has had a lot of exciting events lately. And today is no exception. Marisa is rolling, and rolling, and rolling, and rolling...!
Early this morning after she ate, I laid her down on the floor while I left to go get her toys. As I was walking back to her, I looked up and caught the last little bit of her doing a complete roll to get to this small box nearby. I just stood there, turned to Tim, and said, "Did she just do a complete roll?" He saw the whole thing and replied, "Yes she did!" I couldn't believe it! Just a day or so ago she learned to roll from her tummy to her back. And now she has taken her new skill and running off with it!
So, after Marisa rolled once she was unstoppable the whole day. If she saw something she wanted to touch she just rolled to it! She just kept rolling, and rolling, and rolling, pretty much all day long. It was soooo fun to see!
It's amazing that Tim and I don't get down on the floor with Marisa and teach her all these things that she is learning and has learned. Babies are little miracles in that when the time is right, they do it. I get to witness these miracles everyday! I love being a mommy!

Funny thing: Marisa will roll over anytime she wants to but when we want her to roll over at a specific moment, she won't do it unless we show her a cellphone! A toy does not do the trick. Funny, huh?
So I got her to roll across the room by showing her the cellphone.