Mother's Day

So on this Mother's Day I sit here and think how thankful I am for all that I have in my life. My son is such a huge blessing and I still can't believe sometimes that I am his mommy, that I carried this wonderful person inside me for nine months and now he is every where and into everything. Tonight as I put him to sleep and he lay on my chest I thought to myself what did I do to deserve such an amazing blessing and then I realized God gave him to me to continue to grow and develop a young mind in him and through him. My husband and I are truly lucky to have such a sweet baby in our lives and I am truly blessed to be called Mom. Alejandro is my joy and my light and with him and my husband all is possible. I love to see all the things that my baby boy learns and how funny he is. He is stubborn and funny and wants to know how to do everything and mimics everything he sees. I bought a potty for him and thought to myself I am going to start teaching him so early, as I know that boys take more time and within a week he told me he wanted to go potty and actually did. I was so amazed and thought again how did I get such a bright child. He has gone three times in the potty and I am so proud, I just pray that it continues the same way. To the whole potty thing has also come and obsession with the big potty and he has started to want to put everything in the big potty which takes my back to my loony toon days and all I hear in my head even as I am running to the potty to make sure nothing lands in the potty is "Ducky go down the hole." As you can imagine he is very quick and sometimes I get to him before something lands in the toilet and sometimes I don't. The joys of mother hood have made me laugh at all the new experiences that actually come with being someones mommy. My son has also developed and obsession with keys and again he mimics everything he sees so the minute he sees keys he grabs them and goes towards the door and tries to put them in the key holes. The phone is also a new favorite and he grabs it and in his deep raspy voice all I hear is "Hello, He..llo, "just love this and can't get enough of it. Being a mommy brings amazement to someones life to be in charge of molding a person and watching the grow and develop is such an amazing thing. Again I say to myself I am blessed to be called Mom and thank the Lord each and every day for such an amazing blessing in my life.

13 almost 14 months old

My sweet Alejandro has grown so much in the past months. I look back on his first year of life and feel tremendously blessed. I don't know how God has given me such a beautiful blessing of being this sweet boys mommy.

This year this sweet boy has shown me how to be unselfish with things, shown me that you can work full time and still have energy to play games, that mommy can survive on a few hours of sleep even though she loves sleeping in late. Alejandro has also shown me how to share the bed, because as much as I want him to sleep in his own bed mommy got in the habit of you falling asleep in the bed with us and now you only sleep a few hours alone and the rest of the night in between mommy and daddy taking up most of the bed. I love waking up to the sound of "MaM, Mama" in the early morning with a big juicy kiss even if it means I almost fell off the bed in the middle of the night. Here are a few things you my sweet boy have learned how to do in the last couple of weeks and like to do:

1. Most important you finally found your confidence and are not just walking, but running around the house


2. You say Grandpa in a deep raspy voice


3. You love to come home and see your daddy and say "Hi Dad"


4. You have a front facing car seat now and like to play with your cars and say Hi


5. You love tortillas and will ask for it by saying "tilla"


6. You sign more when you want something, and please, thank you, and bath


7. You say "Amama" for your pillow, because you are very bilingual and mommy and daddy are very proud of that


8. You like novelas and know many of them by their songs.

Alejandro you are a beautiful blessing in our lives and have taught us many things, you are exploring and learning many new things adn I am blessed to be your mommy and can't wait to see what this next year of your life has to hold for us.

Eight Months

Alejandro Javier is now 8 months old I can not believe how quickly time is passing. Alejandro you are doing many things that are amazing mommy and daddy.

• You are starting to crawl more.



• Your top teeth have come in and you bite very hard



• You like to sleep between mommy and daddy more than in your crib



• You wake mommy up by slapping her or a wet kiss.



• You love music, singing in church and dancing too when in your walker.



• You still crinkle your nose at us and make funny faces



• You are a dare devil trying to get into everything



• You make bubbles with your mouth



• Your favorite toys are your monkeys



• You eat so much now and we only know of the can foods we send grandma, but we know she is starting you on many new fun things.



• You are such a happy baby!!!



• Your laugh lights up my life even your fake laugh that your cousion taught you.

I can not wait to see how much you enjoy each holiday as they quickly approach. You are my joy and my life Alejandro Javier, Daddy and I are truly blessed.

7 months old

I can not believe that my baby boy is now seven months old about to be eight in a few short weeks. He is so big now and is my pride and joy. I love every minute with him and with this year of school being one of my hardest ones I am so blessed to come home to him every day, as he is my shining star and lights up my life when I feel so drained from a rough day at work. Alejandro is staying with Grandma and Grandpa during the day while Mommy and Daddy are at work and he is loving every minute of it. It is so neat to see him light up when he sees them and how much he really does love them. Abuelita has introuduced many foods to Alejandro and he loves the orange foods such as sweet potatos, and carrots which are his favorites. Abuelita has also introduced him to sopa which he absolutely loves so much that when I came home one day he ignored me and continued to eat. He just looked at me like hi mom I am busy come back later please, it was funny and so cute.
Alejandro got his first hair cut on the day he turned seven months. He was in need of a serious haircut. . He did really good getting the hair cut too. I was very lucky to have my friend Elena come to the house anc cut his hair. Now he looks like a big boy and not mommy's little baby. Alejandro also got his halloween costume and he is going to be a monkey. I am so excited and he really does like his costume. Some things Alejandro is doing now:

• He sits up and plays on the floor with his toys
• he eats a lot more
• can crawl backward
• can crawl foward when he really wants something
• blows bubbles with his mouth
• makes funny faces
• flips over when on my lap and slides down so he is on the floor and then looks up laughing at me
• can pull himself up in his crib and stand there
• loves to play with his monkey named MOJO

I can't list everything, but I wanted to write a few things my sweet boy is doing now. I still can't believe how fast everything is moving, but wouldn't trade one minute of time I get to spend with my baby boy and my loving husband.

Almost Six Months

This summer has been one of the best ones for me as I have had the experience of spending the summer with my handsome baby boy. Here are some of the things we have done this summer. So at the begining of the summer we quickly realized that we were outgrowing our home and were going to need a new one. So we began looking and I am happy to announce we found our new home and are extremly excited about it. Over the next week or so we will be moving in to our new home. Alejandro will have so much more room to play and explore in which makes mommy and daddy so excited.

A few weeks ago we baptized Alejandro and it was an amazing experience. We were so lucky that he was the first to be baptized in our new church. It was so exciting and mijo did so great. He loved the water and was just so cute watching everything and became a member of our church with no complaints. I am blessed with two great friends that I know will always take care and be a part of my sons life and am thankful that they took on this journey with Paul and I.

Last week we also took a family vacation and it was the longest we have been away from home since Alejandro was born. I was worried at first on how he was going to react to the road and being in new places, but I have to say that my baby boy is very good. He did amazing on the road we only stopped to get gas and one unexpected stop so he could stretch and move around and it was very nice to do that. We went to Austin and didn't get to explore like we wanted to because it was raining. So we made our way to San Antonio on our way we stopped at Cabella's as Daddy had always wanted to go, but to my suprise Alejandro and I really enjoyed it too. There was so much to look at and Alejandro loves to see new things. He got his first pair of sunglasses at Cabella's too and again to my suprise he loved them. He was wearing them the whole time and didn't even complain. Then we made our way to San Marcos to the outlets and we thought we might buy some shoes, or clothes for ourselves as in the past, but we quickly realized that Alejandro was the one that gets things now. After buying him a couple of outfits and seeing how tired he was we quickly made our way out and headed to San Antonio.

When in San Antonio we went to the grotto and prayed and gave thanks for all the blessings we had received this year. We also got to visit with two special people in our lives. We saw Alejandro's Padrino Joseph and my cousion Jessica. It was a great night with them and we really enjoyed our visit. They are both amazing people and we love them both very much.

Next we headed to Uvalde to visit my tia and Father so Alejandro could meet them for the first time. It was an amazing experience because they fell in love with him and so did the rest of my family. They all came to visit him and it was just a great time. Overall the trip was just a great sucess and I am so happy for it all.

Here are some things Alejandro is doing now:

• He is sitting up on his own and becoming very active



• He likes to look at him self in the mirror and laugh



• He can sit up in a high chair



• likes sunglasses



• likes to stand up and is very sturdy



• loves to blow bubbles and stick out his tounge



• started getting his two front bottom teeth



• is eating apple sauce and loving it

Well these are the new thing in Casa Estrada and we are excited to see our baby boy grow and develop. I am sad to be going back to work already, but it will just make the nights and weekends in our home that more special.

Almost Three months old

Wow how time flies! My precious baby boy will be three months old on Wednesday and it seems like just yesterday I found out I was pregnant with him. My precious baby is getting so big now. He is starting to do so many things and is so curiuos. He is sitting up in his Bumbo now and loves it. Alejandro is now drooling so much and likes to put things in his mouth now. He recognizes mommy and daddy and we can make him laugh and smile. He is so ticklish and will laugh really loud when you tickle him just right. My baby boy is so amazing and I feel so blessed to have him in my life. I know that the Lord gives you blessings in your life and I am so thankful that he blessed me with my baby boy. Every day just gets better and better. Each day with him is so exciting and amazing to see what he learns and does with each passing day. Alejandro Javier you are amazing and Mommy is so blessed to have you in her life. I can't wait for the school year to be over and spend it with my beautiful baby boy.

My baby boy

So after a long wait for Alejandro he finally made it into this world February 19, 2010 at 4:49 in the morning. He weighed 6lbs 15 oz. His arrival was a bumpy one and taught me so much more about inner strength and the love that a mother has for her child. After being in labor for almost 12hrs. we lost his heart beat and the doctor decided that we needed to do an emergency c-section. I was so scared and nervous, but I also knew that I had to do what was best for my son and getting him here safely was the most important thing at that moment. We went in and in just a few minutes mijo was here. Since he was late he had inhaled some of his fluids and they took him from us just as quickly as he was here. He went to the NICU and we were told that he was already doing better but as a precaution they had already started him on antibiotics and he would have to stay in the hospital anywhere from 7-10 days. All this seemed like a dream to me a very scary one and it was so hard to be in the hospital and not be able to see or hold my baby boy. God gave me strength and late that night I was able to see my baby boy for the first time. The very next morning I was able to hold my baby for the first time and that was the most beautiful and amazing experience ever. Even though he had to be in NICU I feel he was truly blessed with some amazing people all around him that really seemed to love and care for him. He had some great nurses that made the whole experience a better one for Paul and I. They explained each day everything that was happening with mijo and let us be involved as much as possible with him. There was even a nurse that fell for mijo so much that she wanted to keep him. She was such an inner strength for us at a time that was so hard for us. I am thankful for her and all the nurses that kept letting us know how strong mijo was and that he was there more as a precaution and because he had to finish his antibiotics. Alejandro was able to leave the hospital after seven days in the hospital and I feel that his time there was a learning experience for Paul and I on how strong we are as a couple to get through this all and our strength and love as parents.
When we were finally able to get mijo home he was a week old and had already gained a whole pound in a week. We were so excited to finally get our baby boy home and get our little family home and learn all the joys of being new parents. Mijo has done so well since he has made it home. He is now three weeks old and so strong and beautiful. He is a wonderful baby with such a great personality. When we took him for a check up last week he was already 8lbs 9oz. I can not believe how much he is growing and how quickly. God has truly blessed me with such an amazing son and I can not believe how much strength and happiness he has brought into my life in such a small amount of time. I am so amazed how much love I can have for such a tiny little person in such a small amount of time, I now can not even imagine my life with out him and now I feel so complete. Paul and I have such an amazing little family now and even with the cries in the middle of the night, cries when wet or dirty we would not trade one moment of it. We now know what it feels like to have such an amazing child that lights up our world.

I am so blessed now and Alejandro is my life. He looks just like his daddy and I say that is because I love his daddy so much God gave me a mini version of him. Every day I learn so much about him and a love that a mother has for her child. I am so happy and complete and Alejandro Javier is the beautiful love that his parents created.