When they are asleep...

So every night is like a marathon...dinner, bath, bed. Come on we can do it. Negotiations about how many stories...

Isabella: Well what if we read three short books and one long one?

Momma (AKA Jenna): What about just three short books?

Isabella: We can read four books because I am four years old.

Momma (AKA Jenna): Isabella, mommy is really tired can't we just read a few books?

Isabella: I don't think you are that tired.

This will go on till I usually give in. Let me say, that I love reading books with her, just not as many as she would like (which if she had her way would be about 10)

After they are both in bed (note that I did not say asleep) and after Bells pops out about 5 times for potty, water, to tell me something impor-tint, and any other reason her four year old mind can come up with, it is then glorious MOMMY TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mommy can catch up on her news (Facebook) watch some educational programming ( The Office, Ugly Betty, etc.) and basically put my brain on vacation for an hour (or two).

Sometimes I feel a little guilty about how happy I am that they are asleep. Did I really just rush through books because I wanted to see who took the "what radiohead song are you quiz on facebook?" Less snuggles with the snuggle boy because I wanted to see if Jim and Pam had the baby yet (they haven't FYI but seriously how long are they going to drag that out?)

It is at about this time of guilt, that I sneak back into their rooms. Usually Bella's first. I love to watch my kids sleep. I get a glimpse of the sweet little faces she made when she was a baby. For brief moments, I can see my tiny baby girl in the face of my almost five year old big girl's face. And the smell of her slightly sweaty head and they way that she snores a little, Jose says she gets that from me, but that is so untrue ; )

Sometimes I lay down with her and just cuddle with her. I am reminded all at once how fleeting the days are. The days when she wants me with her. She wants me to read to her, watch her color, go to the park, sing songs, bake, and just be together. I know the days of her wanting me all the time are numbered. In the not to distant future she will want to be with her friends more than me, and think I am old, out of touch, and boring (as all teenagers come to see their parents).

Next off to Sandro... which is tricky because he is a light sleeper. But if I can get in his room and steal a peak of his current adorable sleep position (using his Ugly Doll as a pillow, adorbs!)

I am happy with that. Of course the obligatory new-baby-paranoid-mom-move, put a finger next to his nose and make sure that he is breathing. I know unnecessary as he is almost one, but also entirely necessary because I am sooo paranoid. (I can't remember but I think when Bella was three I stopped being worried about SIDS)

Then I get out before I wake him. But just that picture of him..ahhh. Those things are Mommy drugs. Just a little fix till tomorrow.

These little moments, that they aren't even aware of, are some of my favorite of the day. They help me remind myself to be a better mom, to be a little more patient, and most importantly just be in the moment. Even though life is going so fast, to just slow things down and enjoy the moment with them. I know one day when Bella is 14 and Sandro is 10, or 24 and 20, I will miss these days more than anything and will be so mad at myself if I don't really take the time to enjoy my two biggest fans (at the moment).

I am a blog slacker!!

Okay, well I know it has been a while. I am sure that there are probably many who gave up, but the blog is back! I am a blog slacker, but also my laptop had a tragic accident back in May 09. So it is not entirely my fault. My darling daughter was "flying around the house" as Tinkerbell and caught the cord for my laptop and it fell...ahh! The screen was all cracked and everything. Horrible. I can even remember the last thing that I was looking at, lockets on Etsy (I was looking at Mother's Day gifts for myself). Anyways after so long, I finally have a new computer! It is a beautiful powerbook! Jose found it for me, because he knows that the Internet is my only connection to the outside world. Pathetic yes. Going out into the world with two kids...exhausting. I love it, and now the blogging can continue.

The last eight months have been crazy. Having two children is every bit of the challenge that I had imagined and then some, but I love it. The best part is now that Sandro is crawling and much more able to interact I love seeing he and his big sister play together. By play I mean Isabella telling him what to do and Sandro cracking up thinking that she is playing a game. My bossy girl...like Mother like Daughter. Or something like that.

Isabella started her last year of preschool in September, and will start Kindergarten this fall. How did this happen? How do I have an almost five year old... Time does fly when you have kids. I know everyone says that, but it really is true. It goes in warp speed.

She is a wonderful with Sandro and very patient. She has exceeded our expectations of how she would adjust in her new role. She is so sweet to her little brother. I know this will probably not always be the case, but I am trying to enjoy it while it lasts.

She is coloring all the time, she loves art. She makes her own little books, and has me write in all of the words. They are so adorable, I will try to add some photos of some of her latest masterpieces. Last time we spoke on the matter (yesterday) she told me that she wants to be a dolphin trainer when she grows up. This can change on a daily basis, so updates will be made on the matter. She did express concern about being a working mother, at which time I assured her that I would take care of her kids while she was training the dolphins. Thus proving ladies, you can have it all ;)

Alessandro is ten months old now, with four sharp shiny teeth! Crawling, babbling, and just being his adorable self. He has such a mellow spirit something very needed in our family with all of these feisty Latin people. ( and a feisty danish mutt)

I completed the Seattle half marathon at the end of November. I started training when Alessandro was four weeks old and it was a really great feeling to finish after all of the preparation. I fully intend to keep up with the running and also to run the same marathon this year and maybe the rock and roll marathon in June too. It was so cool to do something that I NEVER thought that I would do, being that I hated running. (Note still HATE running on a treadmill, LOVE running on the Burke Gillman trail located right behind our house!)

Well, that is a brief recap of things...Of course there are some things I am forgetting, as I remember them I will try to put them in here. Oh and some pictures too. I am so bad about the photos. Did I mention that I am in love with my computer?

Adios!

Two Months Old!

The last two months have gone so fast. Amazing how time flies when you aren't pregnant! A fact that I am happy about everyday...


Alessandro is getting big, really big. I always heard that you can't overfeed a breastfed baby, but Honestly! He is probably about 15 or 16 pounds. He has his two month check up Friday so I will have a more exact number.

He is such a good baby, thank goodness. He is sleeping through the night, and never really cries, he just grunts when he starts getting hungry. It is really nice to have such a good baby.
I paid my Mommy dues with Isabella, let me tell you. The first three months of her life she nursed every hour (sometimes every 30 minutes!). She didn't sleep through the night till she was about a year old. She still doesn't sleep too much, not that I am comparing, just that I deserved an easy baby this time!


We have vaccinations tomorrow for both kiddos. I think that they should give the parents a Valium when your kids are going to get vaccines, it is so horrible to see them look at you! I don't know what I will do about Isabella. She is not one to keep her thoughts to herself.
We went to get sealants on her teeth today (we tried to at least). They just put in the spacer to keep her mouth open and she lost it. She preceded to tell the dentist that she is a mean person, and they are no longer friends. Needless to say we left ,without sealants. Have I mentioned before that 4 is challenging? (That's putting it lightly!)
Anyway, who know what she will say tomorrow when they give her the shots. Good times.

In a moment of what must have been a tiny bit o' crazy I decided that I wanted to run the Seattle Half Marathon. I am not a runner, and I actually hate running. So we will see how this works out. I have been training about four weeks now, still not a big fan of running... I am hoping that there will just be this moment when I will love it. Everyone I know who is a runner loves it, maybe I can too. (PS-still hate it a little, walking is much more enjoyable)
The paperwork is sent, so there is no going back now!!

I will post some pics soon!

Alessandro Marshall Osorio

He's Here! Sandro was born March 13, 2009 at 11:10pm. He weighed 8 Pounds 7 Ounces and was 22 Inches Long.
Well the few weeks leading up to his birth were so long. I kept thinking from 37 weeks on that it would be any day...it was not. We were all ready, nothing. I was going crazy. I had never been that pregnant before, it was miserable. During this long and uncomfortable time I started reading the Twilight books to keep my crazy mind off of getting this kid out! I read them all in a week, couldn't put them down. What a perfect distraction while waiting for baby.

At the 38 week appointment my wonderful doctor took pity on me and told me that we could induce a little early! If I haven't mentioned it before that woman is a saint and I love her.
The day was set, Friday the 13th! I didn't really want to tell anyone because for some reason I just had this feeling that something might happen and we wouldn't get to go in. The doctor mentioned that if Swedish was to busy it might not happen, as it was a medically necessary induction. Anyhow we had my mom come over (the second time after a false alarm the week before), we got the car all packed up and waited. Finally at 3:30pm we got The Call.
At the hospital we didn't have to wait. We got there, they hooked me up and started the pitocin. The nurse had the hardest time keeping the baby on the monitor, and was driving me crazy. (she was very nice and just doing her job, but come on.)
After an hour or so things were progressing but the contractions weren't that bad, then they broke the water.
It was so much worse than with Isabella, Pitocin, so much worse. The epidural was so wonderful, granted they had to do it twice, the first one didn't' take. After the second one, things were much better!
He came and everything was so calm, I held him immediately and they left him with me for quite a while before they cleaned him up. It was wonderful, the whole thing, especially after the epidural :)
Today he is three weeks old!

Almost there...

The last few weeks have gone fast, which is good considering how uncomfortable I am. Really uncomfortable! Jose surprised Isabella with an early birthday present, a 6 month old back toy poodle, Jackson. He is wonderful, and Isabella is in love with him. I have been amazed at how well she is taking care of him. She feeds him everyday, makes sure that he gets treats for good behavior, and it has been a great incentive for her to pick up her toys. If she doesn't then Jackson takes them as his own! We are watching The Dog Whisperer non stop to pick up some tips, that guy is amazing.

Bella with her Puppy!

We are officially ready for baby, we have just about everything, and are just waiting...

The week before last he had really slowed down in movement. So much so that I had to go in for a non stress test to make sure that he was doing okay. My OB also ordered an ultrasound to check on everything and we found out that he is already 6 pounds!! YIKES! Her exact words were "You are looking at a 9 or 10 pound baby". Ahhh. He is coming early, I've decided. The good news was that he is in a great position. I got to see his little face, he looks like I remember Bella looking at that stage. You can see his little nose, mouth (blowing bubbles), and the ultrasound tech was able to show me his hair! Which doesn't surprise me as Bella came out with a full head of black hair (that stuck straight up for about 3 months!)

Officially as of today on 36 days to go, or less :)

Good to be Home

Isabella the Dragon Tamer

We have been home about two weeks now, it feels good. Isabella was back at preschool last week as she is now walking, and her hands are almost completely better! Her feet still have a little more healing to do, but thankfully she is doing so much better! She went to her friend Marin's 5th Birthday Party and is pictured above after taming a bouncy house dragon.

Jose got me the best Christmas present that anyone could have given me, someone to come and clean the house. I love him, he really knows me. It was the most wonderful thing in the whole world. I love having the house clean, I just don't like cleaning it (especially not with the belly!). We are thinking it might become a more regular thing, as I just keep getting larger and more tired as the days go on.

This week has been the first week of really feeling like this whole pregnancy thing could go a little quicker. I am feeling pretty big, and ready to be done. While I know he needs a bit longer to cook, I could stand him coming out a little early I think.

I have been in nesting overdrive trying to get things ready as I am planning that he will come early (hope I'm not setting myself up for disappointment).

December. The Good, the bad, the ugly....not exactly in that order

Well the trip was overall wonderful, we missed the big snow storms completely, which from the sounds of it was a very good thing! There was quite a bit of action this month. The day before leaving for Mexico I had to take Isabella to the pediatrician as she had been running a high fever from a throat infection. I wanted to get the all clear for her to leave, which she did get. Getting into the car afterwards I tripped and fell in the parking lot and hit the side of my belly on the curb, not bad, but enough to scare me. I thought that maybe I would give my doctor a call and see if maybe I should stop by to make sure everything was okay, especially since we were going to be leaving...well apparent falls are a big deal when your pregnant, they told me to go to the closest ER immediatly.
I got there and was admitted and Jose was there in about 15 minutes... I think he must have drove 100 miles an hour.
They did an ultrasound, and thankfully everything looked just perfect. It was great to see the baby again. Well, I thought that we would be on our way after that...not so. The standard procedure with a fall is six hours of fetal monitoring, so off I went to labor and delivery, feeling a little worried that it was getting close to 5:00pm and I still had to pack, and we had to be at the airport at 4:30am but also not wanting to take any chances that something was wrong and leave. After all everything was just fine, I loved hearing his heart beating, and we got home and packed just in time.

-Mexico-

All in all we had a great trip. We ended up staying longer for various reasons (the weather back in Seattle being one of them). The third week we made our way from Puerta Vallarta up to a small hippie surfer town Sayulita that was awesome! It is a tiny town with some of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.

On a little beach just up from Sayulita we got to see baby sea turtles released at sunset into the ocean. Amazing. Isabella got to hold them and when they would get turned around, she would send them in the right direction.

Baby Sea Turtles making their way to the ocean...

Isabella the sand castle artist.

Bella and her Papa playing at the beach.

Bella and Mama.

The Ugly...

Well as the trip was coming to a close we decided to extend just a few more days, we had heard that there were still problems getting into Seattle. Rather than get stuck somewhere else, we figured it would be much better to wait it out in the sun...so we did.

The next day we headed to the beach. Isabella had made a friend so we met up with her family so the kids could play. The girls were running around in the sand when Isabella started screaming like I have never heard her before. I ran to her and brought her back to the towel. She was screaming about her foot. I started squirting water from a bottle onto it thinking that she had stepped onto a bee, but as I held onto her foot it was so hot. She was screaming so hard I ran with her back to our apartment, (thankfully it was a minute away).

I got back and Jose was there, and we still didn't know what had happened, I knew that she was burned, I just didn't know from what or how badly. I was trying not to lose it, as she screamed and asked me to take care of her and make it stop hurting. We put her feet into ice water and she said that her hands hurt too.

Then the friends from the beach came to check on her and told us that there was a hole in the sand from a beach fire with hot coals covered by dried palm leaves. That is what she fell into.

She kept her hands and feet in the water the whole day, as we slowly increased the temperature. By 10:00pm we had them all out of water, and it wasn't hurting her so badly. One hand was covered in blisters on two fingers and one of her feet had blisters all over her toes and burned on the sole of her foot. Thankfully after that first day she didn't have hardly any pain, but she couldn't walk. We were just thankful that it wasn't worse. We both sat up that night tying to figure out how we could find the people who left the fire and didn't put it out, and how we could painfully kill them. We are still working on it.

Well that is it... I am happy for December to be over, to be home, and for 2009 to be here. I have a feeling it is going to be a great year.