Early Summer Happenings

This time of year is so much fun and full of awesome events and celebrations for our family.

My parents, sister, Karina, and her husband Eddie came for a visit. I LOVE hanging out with my family. Whenever our NY family comes for a visit, we pretty much hang out together with all my Florida siblings all week too. We celebrated my niece’s first birthday. She is such a happy, spunky and beautiful little girl. Meanwhile, in New York, my other niece, Ariella, turned 3. These two girlies share the same birthday. Since they celebrated the birthdays on different weekends, Dad, Mom, Karina and Eddie got to be a part of both birthdays.

My husband and I both have birthdays the first week of June. How fun is that? It’s become a tradition for Sergi to take me out for a special dinner on my birthday and I cook him a birthday dinner at home. Since his birthday was on a Sunday this year, he got the royal treatment – not only did I make dinner for him, but I also made him a fancy breakfast too. I love spoiling my husband with some great food. I’ve figured out that the way I show my love to people is to feed them:).

We also celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. We went out for a lovely dinner at a restaurant that had a water view. I am so thankful to have such an amazing man to share my life with and look forward to many more happy years together. It’s a blessing to go through life with your best friend, sharing both the good times and the bad and growing together as individuals and as a family.

In health news, I am successfully off the TPN (intravenous nutrition). Just as soon as I was able to gain back the weight I lost after the pregnancy and birth, I’ve been off of it and able to maintain the weight.

My electrolytes are another matter, though, and we are still working hard to get those to a normal level. I am still getting some IV magnesium a few times a week, so my PICC line is still in place. I am really looking forward to getting my arms back. To give myself a little celebration to look forward to, I went to a LUSH store and purchased a few bath products. Once the PICC line is out, I will enjoy some awesome baths, and keep those arms all the way submerged until I turn into a raisin. It’s a bit of a challenge keeping that thing out of the water now. It will also mean I can go swimming, which would be nice, since it’s hot in Florida right now. All in all, I am doing SO much better and am so grateful to be out and about, even though I get dehydrated and really worn out very easily. I guess it’s ok to miss out on all the water activities, since I get depleted of electrolytes so much easier when it’s hot. It’s safer for me to hibernate indoors for now.

I am cooking a lot more now too, which is a great way for me to feel normal. I don’t do too well with most store bought or restaurant food anyway, so homemade food is a necessity for me to feel good and get enough proper nutrients. Whenever we go out to eat, I have to be particularly careful with what I order, but by now I’ve become an expert at knowing what is safe and what is risky. I never thought that I would still be recuperating 4 months after delivery.  It sure would be nice to feel good most of the time, not just a few times a week. I would appreciate your continued prayers so I can finally get rid of my PICC line, have more energy and feel like my normal self again.

Nathaniel is growing so quickly and is such a joy for Sergi and I. Since he spent his first 10 days in the NICU, we’ve been carefully monitoring him, but he is 100% healthy and after some precautionary pediatrician appointments and lab work, the doctors were all happy to report that there is absolutely nothing to be concerned with. We thank God all the time for this miracle.

We are so thankful for a healthy child. It is such a blessing.

Nathaniel loves when we read to him, sing to him, and is now playing with toys too. This boy has such a strong grip and loves tugging on things and definitely putting everything in his mouth. His favorite thing to pull on turns out to be my hair, so lately I’ve been wearing it up a lot more. He is my little buddy, going everywhere with on on errands and is a champion grocery shopper, although he is not too fond of the car seat:(.

I am already letting him try different foods and it seems like he will be a great eater. This little guy loves everything we put in his mouth. Of course, at this point he is only 4 months and gets all his nutrients from formula and food is just for fun. He especially loves bananas and avocados. We just let him try different foods that we are eating and he figured out how to eat and swallow from the very first bite. I sure am a proud Mama.

I absolutely adore his babbling and cooing. He loves to squeal and does it all the time, from both joy and frustration. We love to see his personality starting to shine through. 

We even had a wedding reception for one of Sergi’s brothers at our house this past month. It turned out to be a very lovely, intimate and beautiful celebration. 

I hope you enjoyed this peek into our life. I hope you have a happy weekend and are enjoying your summer.