2011 - Day One

2010 was a great year. We welcomed Celina into our lives and our family of four is complete. Every day brings new experiences, challenges, joys. I love watching both of my kids grow and learn. Watching them be brother and sister. Experiencing our family.

As we welcome the New Year, I resolve to not worry about the little stuff. My priority will be on attending to the needs of my husband and our children. I will not dwell on the things and the people I cannot change.

Cheers to a happy and healthy 2011!

Storytelling

Lucas is all about ghost stories these days. He has been asking us to tell him ghost stories non-stop, but how ghostly should we go? The last thing we want to do is scare him before bed, but nonetheless last night I was sort of on a roll. I was pretty proud of myself that I seemed to be building some suspense in him as my stories went on. Then, while I was putting Celina to bed, I was able to convince him to tell me a ghost story. It was one of the best stories I've ever heard, very intricate and the more I listened I realized it was filled with detail. In a nutshell, his story was about a really scary monster that ended up in the woods then he somehow took off his mask and turned into a boy, which made him sad. Then, the boy put his monster garb on again and he was happy. Couple things. I loved his imagination and the fact that he distinguished real from make believe was pretty cool too.

The interest in ghost stories continued this morning. But, I must have been burnt out because I was telling him a ghost story on the sofa before we headed off to school, and he just looked at me with this your "story is lame" look in his eye. I admitted that my story wasn't very good and he said no, kind of giggled and told me to try again!

Our Songs...

Music is a big deal in our household. We've usually got something playing in the background. And, if not, it seems someone's humming some tune. One thing is for sure, our kids will have an appreciation for all types from classical to classic rock, disco to Latin, jazz and R&B even hip hop to name a few.

It's funny because there came a moment with both of my kids when I heard some tune on the radio and instantly thought, "that's our song." I know...it seems kind of cheezy, but couple's have songs...why can't parents have a song for each child.

When Lucas was born I heard Stephanie Mill's one-hit-wonder, "I never knew love like this before...." and it said something about the way I felt for him, so that became my song for him. Now, every time I hear it, I think of him and how special I feel to be his mom. If you don't remember the tune, check it out at this YouTube link, but close your eyes...the video is horrible!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjcZulxe8ok

With Celina, it happened again. Just this week, I heard Natalie Cole's "This will be...an everlasting love..." and while the lyrics aren't precisely fit for a mother-daughter relationship there was something about the song's tempo that made me think ours would be a happy one and that we will experience many wonderful girly moments together!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30PqLGidLeM

The day Lucas met his little sister

Lucas visited Celina and me in the hospital on Feb. 5, 2010 (his 3rd birthday). What a birthday present to meet his baby sister for the first time!

He was so proud and excited to meet her. And, that feeling hasn't changed. Almost three weeks later, he has shown no signs of jealousy. He doesn't seem to mind that he's spending a little less time with mama these days. That said, we do make an effort to make activities about the family. For instance, now he gets his bedtime story in our bed instead of his room and the four of us sit for story time (while I nurse Celina). He always gives her hugs and kisses and wants to be very involved in anything that has to do with her. He seems to adore her. I know, I know...there's bound to be some sibling rivalry along the way, but I think we're off to a great start.

Musical Lucas

Lucas loves to sing and he seems to be able to retain the words of songs quite well. Here he is singing "Somewhere Beyond the Sea." This video was taken in January 2010. Most recently, he's been rehearsing songs from Shrek like "I'm a Believer" and "All Stars."

Celina Viana Romero Arrives!

Celina Viana Romero was born on Feb. 4, 2010 - my birthday. She weighed 6 pounds 6 ounces and was 20.5 inches long.

While her arrival was a great present, her arrival caught me a bit by surprise. I had a doctor appointment that morning and the doctor noticed that she was no longer in position - she had turned breech. I had two options: have a c-section or attempt to manually turn her so that I could potentially have a regular delivery. The only real risks of having the baby manually turned involved me ending up having a c-section so there was really nothing to lose. I opted to try to have her manually turned, so I was instructed to check into the hospital at 12:30 p.m.

I called Pablo to share the news, and I went to pick up Lucas from school to take him back home to be with Tita. The doctor instructed me that I could not eat anything, which was possibly the hardest part of the whole experience because I was starving! Pablo and I headed to the hospital with our bags packed, but not knowing if we would be having a baby on my birthday.

We checked in at the hospital and waited for two doctors to come into the triage area. They slathered my belly with mineral oil and with one doctor on each side of me they began massaging my belly to try to manually turn her. The process was quite painful. Unfortunately, it didn't work so the suggested we schedule the c-section ASAP so that I wouldn't run the risk of having to have an emergency c-section. There happened to be space in the schedule on that day so they booked the surgery.

At around 4 p.m. the nurses began to prep me for surgery and Celina was born at 5:01 p.m.

Christmas Eve 2009

Christmas Eve 2009 has been a fairly quite one, but still very nice! To get the festivities going Lucas and I decorated a gingerbread house - an activity that he loved!!! We had a cousin and her husband over for dinner - we served a leg of lamb along with fresh sauteed green beans, carrots in a brown sugar and honey glaze, mashed potatoes and rolls. I had made a salad (oranges, tomatoes and avocado), but I forgot to serve it! We then had a yummy dessert I made - luscious four-layer pumpkin cake! Later Lucas watched "Charlie Brown Christmas" again! He calls it "Charlie and Brown." Before bed, Lucas got a personalized message from Santa that blew him away http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/a3ade051cbb6716354d61c4a7fa94bf6. When Santa said he had been a good boy this year he nodded. And then it was off to bed to wait for Santa to visit our house!!!