Oliver: 2 months...and Thanksgiving!

Mr. Oliver turned 2 months on the 25th and he could not be any cuter; he is such a happy baby even though my mom would argue it looks like he'll be a "serious man". Oliver is now smiling on demand and discovering the world around him; he has recently started following sounds and voices and recognizes some faces (especially mine! LOL). His sleep habits have definitely improved as he is now pulling 5 hour stretches more consistently and is easier to put down at night; that's not to say, of course, that he doesn't cry like a manic when he's hungry, but it's better for sure... I would still say his "witching hour" comes every other night when he decides that 11pm-midnight is a good time to "party"... we still enjoy it, though because he is so adorable (lucky for him!). 

Life with 3 kids even though hectic, has proven to be more exciting than not; I am proud to say that we are now very well adjusted to our new normal and have grown to love the idea. I'm not going to lie, hauling a newborn (and all his stuff!) around is no joke, but it isn't as much of a hassle as I pictured it to be. 

Oliver is now 13lbs 8oz (what Gaby weighed at 5 months!) and eats like a manic every 2 hours (or even less!).  We are still successfully and exclusively breastfeeding and that's one of the biggest accomplishments in the baby front! He's cuddly and chunky and everything a cute baby can be! :)

This week, Oliver also celebrated his first Thanksgiving (his first "first" holiday). He looked oh so adorable in his special Thanksgiving outfit and bib and of course he was the life of the party! :)

..and of course, I couldn't leave my 2 beauties out; they are such blessings and such good sisters to the baby.  We are so lucky to be parents to these amazing children!

On Thanksgiving day, Olivia came up with the cutest idea. She made a paper turkey and asked me to help her cut out some "feathers". She then asked every friend and family member to write what they were thankful for on their little feather and put them all on her adorable turkey. She was so adamant about everyone writing something because, after all, we are all so "blessed" (her own words!). I just love to see what a beautiful person she is, inside and out, and it's these little things that warm my heart and fill me with joy. 

Here are some pictures of her little project...

I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving holiday and as we get ready for Christmas, let's not forget to keep the thanks beyond Thanksgiving and throughout the year!

Happy Blogging! 

10 years!

Yesterday marked 10 years since Iggy and I said "I do" in front of God and our loved ones.
It's hard to believe 10 years have passed and so many memories have been made.
Here we are raising 3 amazing kids as a team and learning from each other every day.
When people are young, they always imagine what their perfect partner would be like, what kind of family they'll have and how many dreams will come true..
In my case, my dreams came true when I met Ignacio and they keep coming true as we walk in this life together; granted things aren't always *perfect* but I'd say they're pretty close to it.
He's an amazing father and incredibly considerate husband, always looking for ways to make me happy and help me out. We have a beautiful life together and I thank God every day for him and our family. Words cannot express how much love I have for him and sometimes I have to pinch myself to believe he's really mine.
10 years is only the beginning and I can't wait to see what life has in store for us.
Happy Anniversary, my love! Here's to the next 100! 

Pantene Beautiful Lengths

A few months ago I decided to grow out my hair with the goal of donating some of it to some sort of organization that made wigs for cancer patients. When I set out on this mission, I honestly didn't know much about the process, how much hair I needed to cut or even who would really benefit from my donation; heck I didn't even know how long it would take for my hair to grow that much or if I would even put up with the growth if/when it happened!

So... fast forward to almost a year later and my hair was getting annoyingly long; it would take me a while to brush and untangle it and once I had the baby, he would pull it while I was breastfeeding. I will, however, admit to the fact that I got a lot of compliments on my "beautiful" long hair and did enjoy the versatility of such length. 

But the time came to make the cut and I decided to donate 8 inches of hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, an organization that makes wigs for female cancer patients (any kind of cancer). In the process, I learned that many organizations that claim to help cancer patients actually don't give wigs to such people but rather favor patients with alopecia and other hair loss related conditions instead. 

I chose this particular program because of the simplicity of the donation process and also because it was the one that required the least amount of hair (8 inches), so I thought it'd be much easier to part ways with less hair when the time came...

On November 8th, I decided to make the jump and have my hair cut;  I went to the hair salon and specifically asked the lady to cut off 8 inches of hair and so she did...and then some... I somehow ended up with a 12 inch pony tail in my hand and a shorter than expected hair do! oh well! hair grows back, right?

I will say that cutting my hair for a donation was way more emotional than I expected. For some reason I felt sad and then guilty for feeling sad.  I am still trying to get used to my new look, which I didn't love right away (I still don't love it!), but I am happy to have checked this off my bucket list!

And to anyone looking to help cancer patients, please check out one of these hair donations programs and cut some hair off!