Our weekend!

We have had a wonderful weekend. It started on Friday night with Ricardo coming home from work saying, "What do you think about going out for date night?" My mom is always very gracious to offer date nights to us when she is here and had already mentioned to us that she wanted us to go out. We decided to leave her with Diego and Alexia and we took Marco with us. We went to a great Italian restaurant close to home and Marco was awesome. We definitely got some stares when we walked in with such a teeny tiny baby. He fussed for a minute, I held him for about 5 minutes and then he sat in his carrier the rest of the time. It had been a really busy week for Ricardo at work so it was really nice to have some time alone to catch up and enjoy each other's company. Alexia was awake when we left so Grammie decided to do something very special with her...paint her nails for the first time! She LOVED it and loves showing off her pink nails to anyone she can show.

On Saturday morning Ricardo and Grammie took the kids to the movies to see Toy Story 3. It was their first movie theatre experience and they loved it! Alexia fell asleep on Ricardo's lap near the end of the movie, but otherwise watched it and did great. I wasn't sure she would have the attention span for it, but apparently she did!

Being a mother to little ones, I have learned that they go through stages. Bad stages come and go...good stages come and go. Right now Diego and Alexia are in a wonderful sibling stage. Marco's arrival has brought them closer together and they have realized they need to play on their own more since I am not as available as I used to be. My heart swells with happiness when I see this stage that they're in and how much they are enjoying each other. In the picture above, they sat on the ottoman and played puzzles for quite awhile. When Alexia couldn't find the spot for a piece she would say "Diego, adonde va?" He would take it from her hand and proudly put the piece where it should go and she would give him a look of adoration.

We took Marco to church this morning so I had to dress him in something more than a onesie or jammie for the special occasion. I thought this little outfit was so cute!

Diego is beyond in love with his little brother. Today Marco was sitting in his bouncy seat and Diego was running upstairs to get a lego piece for grammie. As he was about to race by Marco, he slowed down, got on his knees, showered Marco with 4 or 5 kisses and continued on his sprint to the stairs. I think he gives Marco more than 100 kisses a day.

Today we celebrated Father's Day and gave thanks for the extraordinary father that Ricardo is. Every single day I am amazed that God has brought the two of us together and given us the gift of children. Ricardo is an awesome dad, in every way...the way he makes the kids laugh, the way he plays with them, they way he teaches them, the way he disciplines them, the way he provides for them, the way he sets a godly example for them...the list goes on. I pray that Alexia will marry a man just like her daddy and that Diego and Marco grow up to be husbands and fathers just like their daddy. He really is pretty close to perfect in my eyes!

Ricardo loves, loves, loves cupcakes so we made him cupcakes galore. We made chocolate cupcakes with fudge frosting, chocolate with marshmallow frosting and maple walnut cupcakes with ginger cream cheese frosting (Brownie, thank you for the wonderful cookbook - you couldn't have chosen a more perfect gift!)

Of course I would not have been able to do the cupcakes without Grammie. In fact, she did all of the work and did an amazing job.

Diego and Alexia shared the step stool to finish up the decorating this afternoon.

Ricardo took the kids outside to play in the sprinkler and pool before dinner and they all had a blast!

Our special Father's Day meal

A happy daddy with his three kiddos.

Our week in pictures

Our adorable little boy at 1 week old.


On Monday, our friends Jake and Jen brought pizza over and had dinner with us. The kids love Ms. Jen and wanted to get just as many cuddles as Marco from her!


Katie and her kids came over on Tuesday to bring us dinner. (YES! Dinner deliveries have begun and they are a wonderful blessing!) The three kids look so serious in this picture, not sure what they were looking at. Ella Ann loved holding Marco!

We bought the kids this new white table to replace the red one in the kitchen. We always keep a vase of fresh flowers on the big table so this week the kids decided they would like their own vase of flowers for their table. So sweet!

Ricardo has been watching the World Cup game re-runs on his computer. We don't have any TV channels, but he has not complained about it once and has been happy to watch them from the computer. Diego sat with him for awhile on Tuesday, learning all about the game. I love this picture of my THREE guys!

Grammie arrived on Tuesday afternoon. The kids had been counting down the days to her arrival and were so excited to see her. She brought several fun gifts for the kids. Here Alexia is sporting her new socks, crown and purse!

The kids know that when Grammie is here, it's time to hit the kitchen to make treats. Yesterday they made delicious peanut butter-chocolate rice krispie treats. YUM!

Notice Diego's arm. They were both dripping in chocolate.

This is what Marco and I have been up to most of the week. If he is not nursing or hanging out in his bouncy seat, he is usually cuddled up on my chest like this.

Diego and Alexia spend a lot of the day, touching and loving on Marco. He was sound asleep this morning and they spent awhile kissing his hands and talking to him and he was not phased by it one bit.

My mom took the kids to the Children's Museum this morning and they just returned, after having a blast. Everyone is down for naps now and I am on my way up for one myself!

At home as a family of five!

We've had a wonderful first week at home with Marco. We are all madly in love with this lil' guy. He is such a good baby and is so laid back - Praise God!!! He is a great eater and is starting to plump up. We had his 4-day check up last week and he was already 7 pounds. He was 6lbs, 10oz when he was discharged from the hospital so that is an awesome weight gain, considering a lot of newborns don't make it back up to their birth weight until they are 10-14 days old. This boy just doesn't stop eating so that is why he is gaining weight so well. We made his doctor's visit a family outing and the kids really enjoyed going along. It was fun to have our first outing as a family of five!
Ricardo has been super, super, super-dad with Diego and Alexia. The three of them have done a bunch of fun things together, including the Children's Museum, ice cream date, cupcake date, family fun house (with slides, bouncy houses, etc), gardening, reading, swimming in the backyard, errands, etc. It has been a special time for Ricardo to hang out with the big kids which has been such a blessing to me since I have had a lot of sweet, alone time with Marco. It has also given me a chance to rest and take it easy. Marco is becoming a better sleeper, but still prefers to take snoozes in somebody's arms. For the last two nights, Ricardo has held him for 2 hours in the later evening so that I can have a solid stretch of sleep, knowing he won't wake up. Last night he did two 2-hour stretches laying down which were great for me. He is just so sweet and adorable and cuddly!!!
Diego and Alexia are doing great with him. They talk to him, sing to him, read to him and always have to know exactly where he is and what he is doing. They ask to hold him many times throughout the day and are really good about being gentle with him.


He loves the attention from his big brother and big sister!


I love how she is holding his hand here.


This morning Alexia asked me to bring her the Peter Pan book so she could read it to Marco. It was one of the cutest moments of the week! (Helen, notice his outfit - it is soooo cute on him!!)

On Friday we had a special dinner to celebrate Marco. Ricardo picked up sushi from our favorite place and we had quite the feast!

Marco hung out in the bouncy seat for most of the meal.

An after dinner stare-down with Papa.

Hanging out outside while the big kids played

Auntie Taylor came to meet him. We were hoping he would arrive in time for them to meet him!

Some sweet sibling shots:

Driving the tractor at the children's museum

Painting at the museum. They had such a blast!

One of the highlights of last week for the kids was breaking out the pool - they LOVED it!!!!

MARCO ANDRES LOPEZ!

Born Sunday, June 6th, 2010

Weight: 6 pounds, 14 ounces

Length: 19 3/4 inches

Time: 2:50am

A sweet cuddle for mom, minutes after birth

**Warning: this is a long story! I wanted to make sure to record the details of labor and delivery because I wish I had written more about Diego and Alexia's. Sorry if you're not interested in the details, but for those who are, thanks for reading! :)**

On Friday night we were watching a movie at home with Aldo, Eliana and Cami (Ricardo's cousin and his wife and stepdaughter) when I leaned over to Ricardo and said "I have this feeling of giddy excitement and emotion about the weekend that I just can't figure out. I have a feeling our baby boy might be born tomorrow." Then on Saturday morning we went out for a strenuous walk with the kids and when we came home to have lunch, I sat down and said "I am going to hold my "pregnancy card" on my forehead all day today because I don't feel like I can do anything today, except have a baby." We laughed it off and had no idea that sure enough, we would be having a baby in a matter of hours!
I laid down for a nap at 2pm and when I woke up at 3pm I felt like I had been dreaming a lot about contractions. Well, it wasn't a dream, I was having contractions. They were very light and with no regularity, but based on past experiences, I knew that if I was have any number of consistent contractions, then I was in early labor. We had told the kids that we would visit Ricardo's office in the afternoon so we headed out around 5:00 to go see his office, by which time the contractions were more frequent and painful. We had planned on going out to dinner, but I just wanted to go home and take it easy and have leftovers. Before we put the kids to bed we explained to them that when they woke up in the morning we would be at the hospital and Aaron and Helen would be at home to take care of them. They were excited about that and were really excited at the fact that they would be meeting their baby brother the next day.

Aaron and Helen came over around 10pm to spend the night so we wouldn't have to worry about the kids if we had to leave in the middle of the night. I laid down 9:30 to try to get some rest, and dozed in and out between contractions. They were every 3-6 minutes at that point. At midnight, I got out of bed because I knew I just couldn't sleep and when I got up, my water broke. Almost immediately, the contractions started to come every 2-4 minutes. We called the hospital to say we were on our way, gathered our things and headed out the door. The ride to the hospital was speedy and painful. As we were pulling into the hospital we approached a speed bump as a contraction was coming and I screamed "NO TUMULO!" (no speed bump!) Ricardo had to stop the car and wait for the contraction to pass before he could go over the speed bump.

We checked into our room a 1:00am, started the paperwork and requested the epidural. The midwife came to check me around 1:4o and I was 5cm dilated so she confirmed I could get the epidural. By this time the contractions were every 1.5-2 minutes and were excruciatingly painful. I handled labor very differently this time and was able to handle the intense pain much better than with Diego and Alexia. I tried to fight their contractions and just wanted them to end, but this time I tried to embrace each contraction and appreciate the job that it had. We kept asking when the epidural was coming, but our nurse was very slow and didn't seem to care to make things move quickly for us. At 2:35am, the anesthesiologist still had not arrived and I had an uncontrollable urge to push. I yelled, "I'M PUSHING!" The nurse ran over to check me and I was 9cm dilated and she said "This baby is coming! Get the midwife. Get everything ready." Ricardo was so concerned and kept saying, "Can you give her something for the pain? Is it too late to give her something? Anything?" The midwife came in at about 2:40, Ricardo grabbed one leg, the nurse grabbed the other, I started pushing and he was born 10 minutes later. It was amazing!!! It was the most intense, unbearable, unbelievable pain I have ever experienced, but it was so awesome to experience! I had always dreamed of having a natural birth, but had always been too scared so I am grateful that God gave me the opportunity to experience it, without having to make the decision myself. Ricardo and I just burst into laughter and tears as soon as he came out and were so amazed to be touching and seeing our beautiful baby boy. Ricardo cut the umbilical cord and Marco took to life in the world just perfectly. It felt so good to be able to stand up shortly after his birth and to be able to see his first bath up and close. With Diego and Alexia, I wasn't able to see the bath since I was stuck in bed because of the epidural. As soon as I had him back in my arms, I nursed him and he latched on perfectly. We had some quiet, special time with him for over an hour, with no nurses or interruptions until we were ready to go upstairs to our recovery room.

Meanwhile, back at home, the kids were as happy as can be with Aaron and Helen. We are thankful, beyond words, to these dear friends who gave so selflessly of their time and care to be with our kids. I never once worried about them being happy or if they were okay because I know how much they love Aaron and Helen and how natural it is for them to be with them. Aaron and Helen took them to church in the morning and then headed over to the hospital to have lunch with us around 1:30pm. Introducing Diego and Alexia to Marco was most definitely one of the happiest times of my life. I had no idea it would be so wonderful and exciting and emotional. I was simply overwhelmed with thanksgiving in my heart and the presence of God in every detail. Diego and Alexia were enamored by their baby brother and had the best time ever getting to know him. I get teary-eyed just remembering the joy of our first hour together, as a family of five.

We stayed in the hospital for one night and came home Monday around noon.

All is well at home now. Diego and Alexia are doing great with Marco. He is champion nurser and is resting really well.

A few quirks

- I'm not sure how long Ricardo has done it, but for as long as we've been married, he ends his warm showers with an ICE COLD rinse. He sometimes screams out because of how cold it is, but is able to stand it for a long bit. Diego now showers with Ricardo much more than he bathes in the tub. Yep, you guessed it...he LOVES the ICE COLD rinse. He makes Ricardo go first and does a little prep dance in the corner and then jumps into the cold stream of water and screams and giggles and shakes his body. It is hilarious! He sometimes even asks for the cold water rinse as soon as he enters the shower and Ricardo has to remind him that it is only at the end. Diego also now enjoys showering by himself. Sometimes we will turn on the water for him in his shower and let him shower on his own, which he thinks is pretty cool.


- Diego LOVES sports cars and race cars. He has a list of favorties that he is always on the look out for when we are on the road, including corvettes, porsches, BMW's, chargers and mustangs. Alexia has not learned how to distinguish between the cars, but she often calls out "Look at that mustang!" or "I see a corvette!"

- Ricardo keeps asking me to slow down and rest during these last days of pregnancy, but with two littles ones, that is impossible. I am so blessed that I still have energy and feel great (most the time). Today I decided that the van needed a complete interior cleaning. I hauled the vaccuum down to the garage and got to work. As I was vaccuuming I looked up at the stairs and Diego was waddling down the stairs with the step stool from the kitchen. He said he wanted to wash all the windows...so that is what he did! He washed two windows on the inside and then went around the entire outside of the van and washed every window. What a champ!

- Diego has a fish in his room named Suni. Suni's food is in a bottle that has a small opening, but inevitably, 10-20 pellets of food spill out every time the bottle is tilted. The first thing Diego does every morning is feed Suni, before he even comes out of his room. He tilts the bottle, counts out two pellets to feed to Suni and then carefully picks up the spillage and puts the bottle back in his closet. He loves having this reponsiblity of feeding his fish on his own.