Sweet Sixteen

Yesterday, our sweet Cole turned 16...weeks that is. It's kind of funny when you start keeping track of how old your baby is, you use weeks. That is until you tire of having to keep track of how many Saturdays have actually passed since giving birth. And technically, Cole is 4 months old according to the mathematics of 4 weeks= 1 month. But if we look at his birthdate of April 21, wouldn't that mean he won't be 4 months old until the 21st of August? Man, this age thing can really get your head spinning. And quite frankly I don't think I'll be able to continue to keep track of his age in weeks after this month. Too much thinking required and I think it might be a little strange to keep referring to his age in weeks all the way til he is a year old. Which incidentally, by the time April 21, 2013 rolls around, he will actually be starting his 53rd week. On that note, here are a few highlights:

In the past 16 weeks ( in no particular order):

1. Cole has rolled over from his tummy to his back- but not the other way yet. So poor little guy looks like a little turtle trying to flip back over.

2. Mommy and Daddy have finally been able to sleep in the same bed at the same time. Thank goodness for the Swaddleme.



3. Cole has been to 2 wedding receptions, 2 graduation parties, 1 baby shower as the guest of honor and 1 as a guest , numerous trips to Trader Joe's, 2 trips to M town and has ONLY had 2 meltdowns as of this writing. I do realize that after making this list, he will probably have a meltdown at the next wedding we go to. ( sorry N & J ! )

4. Greg and I have become "those" parents- you know, the ones who refer to themselves as mommy and daddy, talking about the baby at least twice in conversations,always talking about bowel movements ( I always kind of did that before the baby, but now it's a bit more acceptable!) and using a BOB jogger.

5. If we weren't morning people before, we are now. And who wouldn't be after seeing this face?

6. Diapers, diapers and more diapers. Nuff said.

7. Party island isn't scary anymore, it is a fun little toy activity center that Cole absolutely loves and can now maneuver on his own!

Lastly, 16 weeks means that I have to go back to work next week. I am nervous and excited but that is for another entry.

Happy Sweet Sixteen Baby!

*Note: When i started this post, it was actually August 12th. As you can see, 3 days later it was finished. That's the life of a person with a baby!

Ceiling fans

Our little guy is in love with ceiling fans. Actually, he is in love with one in particular. The one in our dining room is a brilliant blue and is constantly on ( due to the fact that we live in an old house that gets way too hot in the summer). Who knew that this would be the cheapest way to entertain a baby. His face just lights up when he looks at this fan. I have considered naming it just so he could consider it his playmate. Any suggestions?

Announcing Mr. Cole

I just realized that I hadn't really introduced our adorable baby boy.

Cole Louis

April 21, 2012

2:06 p.m.

7 lbs. 10 oz. 20 in.

He was actually one week, five days early. It was a nice surprise that he decided to show up early. I had just seen my doctor the day before and he told me that I could be "50/50". I wasn't sure what he meant by that but he said I looked too good to be ready to give birth. My ankles weren't crazy swollen and I was waddling and smiling. Go figure. His idea of 50/50 was that I could either give birth the following week or actually on my due date. Hearing that actually reassured me. I still had some things to do, people to see and diapers to buy.

I worked on the day I went into labor. I worked, then ran some errands because I wanted to be able to take it easy the next few weeks. I guess the baby knew because I did everything on my list that day and even had dinner with a friend. When I got home that evening, I felt a little weird but I thought I was just tired.  

I waited until Greg got home from a friends house and then I called the advice nurse. She didn't tell me I was in labor but she said I should come on down. Greg thought they would send us home since we still had 2 weeks. Long story short, Cole decided it was time and he showed up in the afternoon the next day.

And here he is!

Top Ten

I have decided that it might be fun ( at least to me) to do a "Top Ten" list every week. If not for my own entertainment, then at least to make me write at least one blog entry every week.  I am also a huge fan of list making, so this definitely helps me keep my thoughts a little organized!

With that being said, here is the inaugural Top Ten:

Top Ten:
Things that they don't tell you before you leave the hospital with a newborn

10. You WILL be woken up every 2 hours in order to feed your otherwise cute but loud newborn. So   much for thinking babies sleep all the time.

9. Diaper changes are SOOOO easy. Just make sure that if you have a boy, you have a "wee wee" guard and refrain from opening your mouth.

8. If you love laundry, you will REALLY love laundry now that you have a baby. Those cute little onesies that your friends so lovingly made you? Yup, you'll be able to use all of them...and then do laundry on day 3 because said onesies have been spit on, or pooped on...you get the idea.

7. Milk? I really appreciate the cow now. All that work and then you gotta do it again in 2 hours? Sheesh- thank you Bessie for the hard work. At least we  get cheese out of it.

6. Babies don't sleep in their cute little cradle you so painstakingly picked out.  It is the retail industry's way of getting you to spend more money on everything adorable for your baby. And the hormones that were raging through your prego body are to blame. Where does said baby sleep? On to number 5:

5. You will not sleep with your partner in the same bed, let alone the same room for at least 6 weeks. Or until you finally succumb to the magic that is the SwaddleMe. If you love your partner ( like I love mine) you will buy this sleep apparatus for your newborn baby and for every friend that has a baby on the way. Think straightjacket for babies. Heavenly!!

4. The hormonal swings you had while pregnant will just magically disappear the moment you give birth. Yup- so not true. You will find yourself crying for joy and sadness at the littlest things. Let me just say that although it is a given that you will cry when watching ANYTHING on Lifetime, you should not be crying when Toddlers and Tiaras comes on. Well, I guess that's debatable.

3. Did I mention the laundry? Yeah, cloth diapers were a good idea...

2. Babies are hungry a lot. Did I mention that one, too? Breakfast, mid- morning snack, lunch, mid afternoon snack, just because I am a baby snack, dinner...you get the gist.

1. There are books and books out there written by people who are professionals, parents and even non parents giving you advice on how to raise your child. Sure, read them, but make parenting your own thing.

 If you can wash your hands, provide food and of course lots of love, I think you'll make it. And your baby will, too. At least that's what we are doing.

Playing catch up

It's the thought that counts, right? If it seems I have fallen off the planet, you would be correct in your assumption. That is exactly what happens when you have entered your last trimester of pregnancy, had a baby and then are taking care of said baby. If I am not mistaken, my last post was somewhere around March. I am really going to try my hardest to play catch-up and then some.

To sum it up, my last trimester was amazing. I know that sounds weird but I was able to work up until I had the baby. No, really. I worked and then later that night I went into labor. On Saturday, April 21 at 2:06 p.m., Cole Louis Martinez was born. He is perfect in every way and we are so in love. They say you don't know true love until you have a child of your own, and I believe that to be true.

So welcome to the world little guy! And I promise to keep this updated- I am sure that having a kid will add even more humor to our lives!

32 weeks

Today I am officially 32 weeks along, which means I have 8 more weeks to go. Kind of a weird feeling, and all you mom's out there might agree, knowing that even though the  baby will be here in 8 weeks, it is just the beginning!

I feel like there is so much to do. They never tell you that preparing for the little one can be a little overwhelming. Well, maybe they do and I just decided not to listen. :)  At my check up yesterday, Greg decided to ask the doctor if the first baby is early or late. Unfortunately for me, his answer happened to be, "late". Well, it is an estimated due date. I guess we will see when the little man wants to come out and party!

After being in somewhat of a "honeymoon" phase during my second trimester and the early part of the third, I am definitely having a rough go of it this past week. Feeling nauseous and super tired again is not the best, but I suppose it will pass and then we can get on our way with the rest of the planning. I know they say you are never ready, but I at least want to be somewhat ready!

Lastly, here is an updated prego pic. Since I don't stay up to date as much as I would like, I at least wanted to document something for Baby Mar.

Oh baby!

Sorry that I haven't been on here recently. I guess the excitement of carrying the baby has gotten to me! I can try to give a recap of what has been happening in the land of Preggy Jenny in the last 2 months. Funny how time flies. I was thinking that to myself as I am nearing the single digit countdown. But before I get there, I will try to jot down a few of my thoughts that have not made it up here.
Back in January, Greg and I made our annual trip to Sorensen's. This year was a little sad because ordinarily snow has blanketed the ground, but this year Mother Nature decided to keep the snow to herself.

Even without the snow surrounding us, we had a wonderful time. We did the usual ,minus our snowshoe trek behind Sorensen's and adding more reading and relaxing to the menu. Their hot cocoa is to die for, I have no idea what they put in it aside from lots of chocolate and lots of whip cream! We found their outdoor fire pit ( usually covered by the snow) which we took full advantage of one afternoon. Seeing as this was our "babymoon" we tried to take the time to enjoy each other and reflect upon what was to come the next time we made it up! We are so excited to think about the idea of bringing Baby Mar up here and all the fun things he will enjoy doing. 

Sorensen's has become a very special place for us and we cannot wait to make more memories here with our soon to be addition!

New Year, New Thoughts

I had been talking about starting a pregnancy journal for our Baby Mar, and after much wavering, I finally started today. I decided that it might be kinda fun to note my musings in a way that maybe in later years, we could read together, just him and I and reflect on how our  little guys journey began.

It is funny how attached you get to the baby that's growing inside. I guess when you really think about it, you are sharing a lot with this little person. The weeks tick by and I grow more and more attached. Today as I was watching a show on TLC called " A Baby Story" there was a couple who was having triplets ( I know, I can't even imagine!) and when the mother was giving birth, I just started crying! Prego hormones at their best of course- the scene just made my heart melt because in a few short months we will be lucky enough to meet our handsome little guy! I could just feel the emotion radiating from their happy mother's tears and their father's laugh.

Greg and I are so in love with Baby Mar and he is still in my womb! I am so excited to meet him and cuddle and just be a little family!

Last Christmas

When I was at my 20 week check-up earlier this week, my Nurse Practitioner said something that I hadn't thought about until the moment it came out of her mouth. " Have a good holiday and enjoy the last one you'll have with just yourselves. Next year you will be standing in line at the toy store because the baby will be here next Christmas." Yup- I hadn't even thought bout how this is our last Christmas "just us".

I remember the first Christmas we were together- nearly 11 years ago. I had been living in San Francisco and Greg was here in Sacramento. Trading weekends when we could just to spend time together. First gift from Greg? A space heater because my room was so cold. What a practical gift, right? We still have that space heater- a little old but still works!

I remember the Christmas before we got engaged- 5 years ago. We were exchanging gifts before our whirlwind trip to Madera and then Concord. He handed me a small box and I was a little nervous to open it. I shouldn't have been because it was an iPod! It makes me giggle now because little did I know he was planning on proposing to me a few weeks later while we were in Tahoe! After the proposal, I asked him if he wanted the iPod back!

And now we are in 2011. This is our first Christmas pregnant but our last as "just us". I am so happy to share this Christmas as "just us" with Greg. As long as I can remember, I have always wanted my life- the loving hubby who gets along with my amazing Mama Smith, living in a home that is not fancy but practical and a baby. I think Santa and God has gotten my wish list spot on for this year.

It's a....

After all the anticipation, the waiting and the suspense- we finally found out what we are having...a BOY! We are so excited about knowing what is growing inside of me! We both had said that it didn't matter to us whether our baby was a boy or a girl, but we just wanted to know.

Before we found out, I had bought a handful of really cheap toddler clothing in boy and girl styles in anticipation of the day we would have a baby of our own. I had collected a few things and last week came to the realization that pink was not going to be an option ( at least not yet- and if our boy wants to wear pinks and purples later on I will gladly let him do that!) . Which lead the wheels to start turning in my head- are we going to go the traditional route and go blue and green? And what about tractors and lizards and dragons? And then will his room have to be "masculine"? And then I stopped to just enjoy the fact that we are having a little boy. And we can think about all the little things later!

We are so excited and looking forward to many more milestones during the next months.

Girl or Boy Martinez?

One week from today, we find out what we are having! Obviously a baby human, but if we are lucky and our child is not shy, we will know whether or not we have a Baby Greg or a Baby Jenny! I for one, am super stoked about finding out. Greg is, too. Who knew that this time would fly by and we are now in week 18!!

You may find yourself asking, " What are you hoping for?" I can honestly say that we are just hoping for happy and healthy- and I am not hiding anything when I state that sentiment. Since finding out we would become parents many weeks ago, we have just relished in the joy of creating a baby. I can picture a little boy or little girl running around our lawn and us loving every minute of it.

In the next 7 days we will be anxiously awaiting the ultrasound- if the baby is anything like me, it will definitely not be shy!

Pregnant ladies everywhere!

Before I was pregnant, I never noticed the pregnant ladies around me. Sure, I was one of those people who was fawning over babies and when seeing a baby bump on women would say   , " Oh, what a cute pregnant lady!" but, I was never as aware as I am now about all the pregnant women surrounding me. I have heard that your senses are heightened while pregnant. Even Greg has noticed all the expectant mothers all around us.

My baby bump has "come out" in the last few weeks and I am definitely hyper aware of it. When I look down, I can see the slow development of what will be a huge bump in the coming months. My pants are being held together by a rubber band and this cloth tube thing ( which is quite comfortable but annoying to deal with in the potty) which should get me through until I have to wear maternity pants. Incidentally, thank you to my girlfriend Melissa for letting me shop in your "boutique". You have saved me quite a few bucks!

As of this writing, I am 16 weeks and very excited to reach 19 weeks since that is when we get to find out if we are having a boy or a girl ( if they aren't shy that day!). People have asked us if we prefer one over the other and our answer is " a healthy baby". It's fun to see what people around us think- most people have predicted we will have a girl. I guess we will see on December 7th- and so will all of you!

Found a peanut...

Since it has been a while since I have posted something new, I figured why not make it a big one. After much hoping and praying and wishing...Greg and I are expecting a little one! We are 13 weeks along and very excited!

Our first glimpse of the baby  was very exciting. I was on the table and looked over and just said, " That's a baby". The doctor chuckled and said, "yes, it is." I had to see the  baby to actually believe that I was carrying a child. The moment we had been hoping for for so long, had finally come. We were going to be parents. We are parents. Wow.

There you have it- Baby Martinez will be coming in May 2012 and we cannot wait!! Definitely more blogging to come!

My other, other bestie

I have to admit, that when it comes to making friends, I am pretty good at it. Now, before you call me arrogant, hear me out- this isn't coming from a place of arrogance or self adoration, but merely an observation that many people have made and then told me. As a kid I was painfully shy. You would never know it by how I turned out. I was the quiet, sensitive child ( sensitive = crybaby) who would cling to her mom at parties or keep to herself ( mostly) at school. I didn't quite come out of my shell until Junior High School- but that is another story for another blog.

Friendship is very important to women, which makes it really important to me. The reason I bring this up is that one of my dearest friends, Kelly is leaving. Here's the scoop- we met at work almost 9 years ago. At first we were only co-workers- the occasional chat at work, the pleasantries, etc. Lucky for me, we became great friends. She is a wonderful person who has been there for me when I was going crazy planning my wedding,  stressing about running, stressing about work, rejoicing in my running, and living in my moments of happiness. Next to my husband and mom, I know that I could call her at 3 a.m. if I needed to talk . She might not be happy that I called her that early but she wouldn't tell me that until the next day!

Kelly is amazing and I am going to miss her very much. Oh, I didn't say where she was going, did I? She got a promotion in our company, and is starting her new job on Monday. Lucky for me, she is not moving out of town. I just won't see her as often. I am super proud of her accomplishment and wish her the best of luck!

Corndogs are a girls best friend

Until I lived in Sacramento, I had never been to the State Fair. If y'all have never been, let me enlighten you. The State Fair is kinda like a County fair but at least 3 times the size. At least that's my opinion, coming from a small town with an even smaller fair. There are lots of sights to see and lots of food to eat!

I love food. When I go to the fair, I have a specific menu I adhere to- always a corndog and some sort of sweet treat. Let me say, that when it comes to unhealthy but delicious food, the State Fair takes the cake ( deep fried of course!) When Greg and I decided to go to the fair this year, we actually showed some restraint. We got the brick of french fries- it literally was a brick of squiggly fries in the shape of the basket they were fried in topped with chili and cheese. Yup- and it actually went uphill from there!  We both got our corndog and the ended the day with a soft serve cone dipped in chocolate. No Pepto moment for us!

Freeze Dried Fun

Just this past week, I went on a three day GIRLS ONLY backpacking trip. Yup- 8 women in the wild for two nights and three days with no man in sight. Well, there were men, but none were allowed to help us! For those of you in the world who have never experienced backpacking let me give you a quick run down on how it works.

Backpacking is where you pack up a big backpack full of supplies for a certain amount of time. For example, you would pack things like, food, shelter, clothing, toiletries etc. When I was younger ( read: in my twenties) I have packed before. One of the times was in Zimbabwe, while I was serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Quite frankly, some days it felt like I was camping everyday since I had no running water and had to poop in the same place I showered, but I digress...The most recent time I went was with Greg and 2 of our friends in an area outside of Sonora/Angels Camp where we had to carry a bear cannister ( a container to put our food and anything that smelled delectable to bears)  and also filter any and all of the water we were to consume. My one requirement for this girls trip was that we didn't go to bear country!

Back in January I had made the decision to "say yes" to most things that came my way. With that in mind, I was the first person to sign up when my friend Becca asked if I wanted to go on a ladies only backpacking trip. The funny thing about a ladies only trip is that there is almost certainly going to be someone who had never gone backpacking before. so I knew I at least had a few trips under my belt, so why not!

Three days and two nights sure seemed heavy- and I don't mean in the metaphorical sense! In order to get your pack under a certain weight, it requires a bit of finagling and distributing weight and determining if you really need clean underwear for each day you are on the trail ( yup- you definitely don't want to skimp on the undies ) . Greg was not about to let me out of the house with my pack being more than 30 lbs. and I was a  little worried that I wouldn't be able to do it. When tuesday morning rolled around, my pack weighed a little over 31 lbs. but there was no way I was leaving anything behind!

Ready to take on Point Reyes!

We met up at the Bear Valley Visitor Center at Point Reyes on Tuesday a little before noon. There were 8 of us and we were all ready for our adventure.

The first day we hiked out to Wildcat Camp which would end up being almost 7 miles of hiking. During this hike we would encounter poison oak, stinging nettles, endure the hottest of the three days and test our will power not to eat all of our snacks on that first day just to get the weight down from our packs! We ended the day around 5 p.m. ready to take in the ocean breeze and chow down on some freeze dried food. I chose to bring lasagna and also bring along some red wine ( who knew?! Thank you to Platypus for making a reservoir for wine!)

Naomi, Myself and Leilani 

Sunset at the beach of Wildcat

Token Chaco shot

Little did we know that the second day would actually be the more challenging day- for me anyways! We had to do 8.2 miles in order to make it to Coast Camp. In the morning I had 2 packets of my brown sugar oatmeal and of course my instant coffee in order to start my day off on the right foot. This day would prove to be the most beautiful ( in my opinion) since it went along the ocean. We came across such gorgeous sights, a pack of teenage girls at camp, more poison oak, more stinging nettles, more bathroom stops and a great lunch spot where we saw Nessie the Lochness Monster! Ok, that part wasn't true, but we really did see something out there!

Still smiling!!

Good thing we can all read

Coast Camp was amazing. If anyone out there gets a chance to go, you should stay at Coast Camp for the amazing view getting there! And you might meet some interesting folks ( we sure did!)

Almost there!

Day three was a welcome relief. Our feet were tired, blistered, our shoulders weary, our hearts and minds ready to get out of Dodge and back home. We had a 6+ mile hike out to the cars. It seemed that this day we were all propelled by the thought of clean clothes, a hot shower and In and Out burgers! The elevation seemed more steep on this day but I think it had to do with the fact that our feet and calves were so tired! We got out of the gorgeous woods in just about 4 hours- which was amazing! If we hadn't been so sore, I would have guessed that everyone would have run out!

Woot!!

Yahoo!!

Stretch it out!

And we made it!!

Sending a shout out to Becca for organizing the trip, all the ladies for making it fun, REI for introducing me to a much bigger world of outdoor activities and of course my friend Matt Jones because without him my pack would have been the end of me and he made it fit perfect! I ended each day with a smile and my sanity intact. I got to know all the gals a little better and I got to know myself a little better, too. yup, I am definitely saying yes more!

June 20 revisited

"Mawage. Mawage is what brings us together today". That is one of my favorite lines from the movie Princess Bride and one I would deem appropriate for this post. Two years ago today, I married Greg. In keeping up with the cliche, I would say that I married my best friend, my rock, the yin to my yang, the mac to my cheese and of course the love of my life.

I am extremely lucky to have a mom who loves my spouse, a wonderful set of in laws and of course a man who loves me for who I am regardless of what may come or how weird I may be. Today we aren't going to eat any wedding cake ( see last year's post) since it has been consumed ( a good thing since frozen 2 year old cake might be a little gross) or go on a road trip down the coast of California
( honeymoon), but we are going to bask in the success of another year gone by with our sanity intact
( albeit a little tested this year) and our love for each other a little stronger and of course a good hearty laugh remembering our good times and bad and looking to the future for even more memories.

Thank you Greg for another wonderful year. I love you!

Today, tomorrow and always.

You say goodbye, I say hello

The Beatles were a mainstay in the Smith household growing up. I never truly appreciated their music until I understood the lyrics (and that songs were a little deeper than the surface suggested). Their song "Hello Goodbye" really is a bit confusing, but also kinda makes sense.

During my hiatus from the blogging world, a small heartbreak has occurred. My father-in-law passed away in early April, quite unexpectedly. He was a wonderful man. Such a loyal husband, loving dad and just an amazingly selfless human being. When I married my husband, 2 years ago ( and in the 8 years before), Lou always made me feel welcome, and treated me just like one of his own. I was fortunate enough to know him and feel the effects of his very big heart. So, it was a very sad day when we had to say goodbye to him.

Saying goodbye has always been a strange thing for me- therefore, I typically don't say it. Even when a loss has occurred, I am usually thinking to myself that I am just saying "see you later" or "until we meet again". But recently after Lou's passing, I just wanted to say hello. I know that sounds weird, but hear me out. Hello is always a great way of starting something- a conversation, a joke and even a friendship. Hello truly was a great word that described my Father in Law. He was just the friendliest person out there- striking up conversations with strangers, church goers and little kids.

So when I heard the Beatles song pop up on Pandora , I had to smile and think about good ol' Lou. He would want us all to say hello and never say goodbye.

so much for that idea!

I just realized that I haven't posted in a while and so I will try to change that with the warmer weather coming up and summertime on our brains!

have a great Monday everybody and watch out, cuz here I come!

Dim Sum Sunday

Yesterday Greg and I had lunch with my mom. In order to have lunch with her, we had to drive to Modesto. Well, we didn't have to but rather decided we would meet halfway between Madera and Sacramento. We decided to go to this place I found on Yelp . For those of you who might not know what Yelp is, it is a website that lets people post ratings and reviews on anything and everything. I had used Yelp before when choosing places to go eat, get my hair done and even reading about my workplace
( most comments were nice although a few were kinda strange).

The original plan had been for my mom to come up to Sacramento for the weekend. the awful storm that had come in on Friday had decided to rear its' ugly head through the end of the weekend, so Mama Smith decided to change her plans ( and I don't blame her since I hate driving in the wind and the rain) . When she comes to town, we usually go to New Canton for dim sum. Another side note: Dim Sum is asian cuisine where you typically have small dishes brought out on carts and you can pick whatever you like and it is relatively inexpensive.  Mama Smith loves her dim sum. I mean, loves it. We usually go every time she comes to town. This was a sad day when Mama decided to cancel the road trip. I came up with the ideal solution- let's meet halfway in Modesto.

I read the reviews on Yelp and was quite excited and impressed to find dim sum in Modesto. This place is called Dynasty Garden and it was amazing. The dim sum was made to order- which is rare in Chinese Restaurants and our waiter even recommended a soup dish for us. They had all the shrimp balls and fried foods that we typically loved, along with some other interesting things ( we passed on the chicken feet) and it was all delicious. If any of you find yourselves in Modesto looking for a place to eat try Dynasty Garden- you won't be disappointed!

What can I say- the way to my heart was spending the day with Mama Smith, Greg and fried shrimp balls!