numbers numbers

SOOOOoooo... we got our first offer on the house (and I am so glad that we have a Realtor now).  It's pretty crazy how some numbers can be so important and can make or break a deal.  Even though we are so excited to already have an offer on our home... it was also REALLY low.  Our Realtor is putting in our counter offer tomorrow, and all I can say is we are hoping to meet in the middle.  We are just praying that it all works out in the end (your prayers are welcome too!).  =)
 

sweet

Ahhhh, if we could all sleep this peacefully =)

C E L E B R A T E !

after a quick clean-up of our home (another person wanted to view it today, fingers crossed), we moved the celebration of Gabi's first month and Jen's birthday over to Gramma's & Bapa's.  We all had a great time and enjoyed a yummy ice cream cake!

Our baby girl is 1 month!!!

The last month seems like it has flown by so fast.  It feels like only yesterday we were coming home with Gabriela. Life with her has been fantastic.  She is such a loving and easy going baby, she is rarely fussy, and is great with all the movement around her.  Most of all she has been wonderful will all the hugs, kisses and constant attention from her older siblings... they couldn't love her any more!

Some highlights of her recent activity:
- 8 lbs 4 oz at 1 month
- she is smiling more regularly (lots while asleep, but starting more while awake).
- is almost sleeping through the night (wakes up once to nurse around 4am)
- has discovered her hands, it's so cute watching her play with her fingers
- has had longer alert periods, she loves looking around now.  Over the last week we have noticed her really exploring the room around her.
- she has started being vocal.  We have heard her "talk" to us about 4 times now in the last week!  Her little vocalizations are soo cute.
 
Gabi is so sweet and peaceful.  We all love watching and holding her.  She brings calm into our lives, we feel so blessed! 

happy family

Can you tell that we have one BIG HAPPY family.

Will's latest creation =)....

silly Will

Will recorded this the other day for St. Patrick's Day! Enjoy!

here are the words (he's a little hard to understand =):
"I'm a little Shamrock see my leaves, count my 3 petals and you'll see, if give me water and lots of sun, I'll bring you luck and lots of fun!"

life in our home

Our home has had so many changes in the last few weeks and we couldn't be happier.  Here is the low down on all of us....
Our home:  We have finally made the decision to take the stress (a little) out of our hands and turned over the sale of our home to a professional.  This weekend we listed our home with Howard Hanna and are hoping they can help in selling it quick! 

Tobin: Tob was back to work the day after we brought Gabriela home.  This was sad, but work is work.  Work has been pretty stressful recently for him and in the last 2 weeks he was already sent out of town for business, and has had to work late frequently (something we were not use too).   We are still lucky that he has had some great bonding time with Gabi at night.  She seems to know to save a great alert period right after he is home and she just lays there and stares at her Daddy!

Veronika:  Each day is getting better.  The c-section incision is healing great, but remembering to take it easy is not.  I have been lucky to have many people step up and help these past 2 weeks, I wouldn't have been able to do it without them.  Monday was my first day venturing out on my own...and it sure was an eye opener... SLOW DOWN VERONIKA!  =)  Other than that, I have been keeping busy trying to get the house ready for an Open House, keeping up after the 3 lil ones, and missing Tobin when he has to work a little later.
Will:  Our lil man is going great.  He adores his lil sister and is very attentive to her needs.  He is my little reminder to say "it's OK baby Gabi" whenever she cries (which isn't often).  He loves singing to her, and telling her stories.  Will is going well at school academically.  Socially, he is doing MUCH better, but there are still things they are working on with him.  We have discovered that Will is a little artist like his dad.  He draws stick people all the time (even drew our family of 5), loves stamping, loves coloring (with ALL the colors), and is great at tracing.  He is our easy going lil man and is a delight one on one!

Isa: Our lil Spirited girl is both sides of the spectrum.  She is the sweetest lil girl with her sister Gabi (kisses and love galore).  She  is a little entertainer and loves telling you she's happy, she loves you, and that you make her happy.  At night (or nap time) she stalls, by telling us all the things she is thankful for and gives you extra kisses followed with an "I love you".  She has been Talking up a storm, she is completely articulate.  We can't believe how well she communicates.  It only seems like yesterday she was barely talking.  On the flip side... Isa can also be a little handful.  She surely keeps us on our toes, but it wouldn't be exciting without her!

Gabi: The past 2 weeks with our littlest one has been great.  We certainly have NO complaints about her... she has been fabulous.  We can only hope she stays this way, but so far she has been breast feeding great, she only wakes up once at night to eat, and is rarely fussy.  Gabi is so easy going we feel so blessed.  She loves being held, but doesn't mind being put down either.  She has great alert times during the day and is a wonderful sleeper at night.  At 1 week she was weighing 6 pounds 14 ounces (up from 6 1/2 only 3 days earlier).  She has been a wonderful addition and is certainly so loved by all. 

Our family: We are anxious to get our home sold and move to one with more space.  We are headed for our first trip as a family of 5 to Florida in May (May 1-10th) to celebrate cousin Andrew's birthday and to meet Luis & Yanet's lil one Amanda, and Eddie and Nicole's lil boy Sebastian.   Abuelita will be flying down with us and Daddy will help with flying back.  We are sad to say we are losing Abuelita for about a year come August.  She will be headed back to Florida to help out Monika and family.  We are glad to still have family around to help out and be close too.    We plan to baptize lil Gabriela sometime in the beginning of July (around Will's birthday).  We hope most family members will be able to attend, we have been blessed in the past to have everyone there!  Finally, we are excited to welcome more lil cousins for the kids this summer!  The arrivals of Baby Chloe (in June) and Baby Boy Sikora (in July) means more lil ones for our kids to play with... we feel so lucky!   That's all for now (and congrats if you read this far!)

hands?

As most of you know, Isa is VERY fond of baby Gabi.  We have many shots of her loving and kissing baby Gabi, but this one tops them all..... a very concerned Big Sister (by the way... I think she was looking at us thinking "why aren't you freaking out too!).

ENJOY! 

CONGRATS Luis & Yanet

Our cousin Luis from FL had his little girl today!  Mom and baby are doing great!

Congrats and we can't wait to meet her in May!

Welcome to the family AMANDA SUAREZ

home sweet home

our homecoming was a little bittersweet.  unfortunately for us, there are too many things going on at work, and Tobin had to return to work this morning.  we are SO fortunate to have family close enough to help out.  i have to admit that this recovery is a little worse that I thought (or remembered).  I decided to try one of the stronger pain meds, and it definitely has helped a little, but also makes me very dizzy and tired.  I wouldn't be able to take it if I didn't have the help I have.  This morning, Gramma and Bapa came over to help get Will out the door to school, and then Abuelita came over for the afternoon.  I was able to take a couple of naps and feel like things are on the upswing (I HOPE).

on the SWEET side... the kids and Gabi have been amazing!  Will and Isa couldn't dote on their little sister enough.  Isa will remark with "awwww" at anything cute Gabi does, has already told Gabi that she is "her buddy" and like previously mentioned, can't walk by her without giving her a kiss! (she has already walked by 4 times with kisses while I have been writing this!)  Will just loves looking out for Gabi.  He turns on the mobile or music to make sure Gabi is happy.  He gives her a sweet kiss when he thinks no one is looking... so sweet!  Another thing that has been so neat to see, is the stronger bond between Will and Isa.  They are interacting SO much more, and we can hear then making each other laugh constantly.  What a blessing.
As for our little Gabriela... she has been FANTASTIC (knock on wood here).  Her first night home she has been feeding every 4 hours and we have only heard her cry once!  She is so easy going.  Her alert times have been during the day, and we hope this will allow us to have another good night.  She loves looking around (especially at Will and Isa) when she is awake.  We feel so blessed and can't wait for more people to meet our lil girl.

 

 

sibling love

We have been in awe over the last couple of days at just how much Will and Isa adore their new little sister.  Even though we aren't home yet, the kids have been more than wonderful with every interaction with Gabi.  Will is protective and loving.  He doesn't smother her, but is aware of her every move.  He just wants to make sure the baby is happy.  Isa is VERY open about her love.  She is constantly standing over Gabi, talking to her, giving her kisses and telling her she loves her.  It's adorable.  Today while holding Gabi, Isa remarked "Mommy, she looks like Isa (from her baby pics), I love her."  We are so proud of how well they are doing.

We couldn't have asked for a better reception from Will and Isa.  I am sure the love will only continue to grow when we go home tomorrow!