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Friday afternoon entertainment

Hello world!
yes, we are still here. We have had no time or ability to update - but a full update will be coming soon. So much to tell you about!

In the meantime, enjoy the following Friday afternoon fun:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8_Kfjo3VjU

Be sure to give yourself 10 minutes of uninterrupted time and turn the volume up!

http://ping.fm/5FIgH

9-9-09 - lucky or unlucky??

How did everyone's 9-9-09 day turn out? It was generally hoped by most that it would be a very auspicious day.

However, I don't know yet if that applies to me. Yesterday, I ended up getting laid off! Am I lucky that I now have to seek new opportunities or unlucky that our financial security is now in jeopardy? I don't know yet, but when I find out I'll let you know!

Wish us luck!

Wheat, Barley and Rye, oh my!

 

Guess what…my doctor thinks I have Celiac disease.  Never heard of it?  Neither have I!

Nevertheless, apparently some blood tests I have taken say that I have this disease.  Basically it means that I have to change my diet so that I cut out anything that contains glutens.  Gluten is primarily found in wheat, barley and rye.

Get a load of this list of things I can’t have:

The basics of a gluten-free diet include:

• Avoiding all foods that contain wheat, rye, and barley gluten. Bread, bagels, pasta, pizza, malted breakfast cereals, and crackers are all examples of foods that contain gluten. Although some foods are labeled wheat-free, this does not mean that they are gluten-free.
• Avoiding oats, at least initially. Oats may cause symptoms in some people, perhaps as a result of contamination with wheat, barley, or rye during processing. But many people who have celiac disease can eat moderate amounts of oats without having symptoms.¹ Health professionals vary in their long-term recommendations regarding eating foods with oats. But most agree it is best that people newly diagnosed with celiac disease not eat oats until the condition is well controlled with a gluten-free diet. Then, up to 2oz of oats may be eaten daily as long as no new symptoms arise.² You should eat only oats known not to be contaminated by wheat, barley, or rye during processing.
• Avoiding or limiting milk products in the beginning of treatment if they cause or aggravate symptoms. After symptoms improve and the small intestine heals (about 2 to 6 months), you may be able to gradually reintroduce milk products into your diet.
• Avoiding all beer products, alcoholic and nonalcoholic, including lagers, ales, and stouts.
• Reading ingredient labels carefully and being aware of types of hidden gluten. Gluten can be in things like medicines, vitamins and other nutritional supplements, lipstick and lip balm, and various food additives. Products whose labels have the phrase "modified food starch" or "hydrolyzed vegetable protein" may contain gluten.

No beer?!?  I think I’m just going to have to be sick!

Here’s what I can have:

On a gluten-free diet, you can still have:

• Eggs and dairy products such as cheese. But you may need to avoid milk and milk products at the beginning of treatment.
• Flours and starches made from rice, corn, buckwheat, potatoes, soybeans, or tapioca.
• Fresh, frozen, and canned meats. Read labels for additives that may contain gluten.
• Fresh, frozen, dried, or canned fruits and vegetables if they do not contain thickening agents or other additives containing gluten.
• Certain alcoholic beverages, including wine, liquor (including whiskey and brandy), liqueurs, and ciders.

Almost everything I eat is either wheat or whole grain.  Even my favorite cereal, which is currently Special K Cinnamon Pecan (such yumminess!) 

Goodness me, whatever am I going to do? 

Gluten-free diet for celiac disease

Lock up your valuables!

...Because Jason is on the loose!

We, as the very proud parents of Mr. Jason, are pleased to share a special day with you - Jason crawled for the first time today!

He has been rocking back and forth for a couple of weeks, but never quite figured out what to do with himself after that. But today, he had an epiphany and put one hand forward - a leg forward followed and within a matter of seconds he was on the other side of the couch!

I captured this special occasion with the following video:




Now what am I going to do with all the stuff in this house??

We loved NOLA! We love DayCare less...

We had so much fun in New Orleans a couple of weeks ago! We even got to stop and see Jason's Great-Grandmother in Lafayette on the way. She says Jason is a "fat little bugger". I have to agree, but he is adorable! However, Liz (who saw him on Saturday) says that he has actually grown since two weeks ago, so his fat is redistributing already :)

Microsoft's WPC conference was a lot of fun, especially the closing party JazzFest. I learned a lot about stuff related to my job and how I will be expanding into new areas. The Convention Center was a great venue except it took *forever* to get from one side to the other. My feet really hurt by the end of the week.

Alberto and I went to Mulate's and Harrah's the Sunday before the conference and then went home to a fabulous dinner at Stephanie's house that night. It was a whole family dinner too, with 2 of 3 of Steph's kids joining us, along with their significant others. I also found out my oldest nephew is engaged! Congratulations Travis and Andrea!

Jason had a fabulous time with his Aunt Stephanie all week. She made some homemade toys for him (which he has been unable to part with to this day), and they had a great time playing together. She was determined to get him crawling by the time we went home - he didn't make it, but he has made leaps and bounds toward the goal! Now he rolls himself right up onto all fours and then just rocks back and forth - a lot - hoping to get somewhere. When he does move, it's in reverse, so he's going to have to work on that! :)

When we got back from New Orleans, Jason's Tia Meyda came for a visit for a few days. Once again, our house was transformed into a homestyle Mexican restaurant, with tons of different meals coming out of the kitchen, courtesy of Meyda's delicious cooking. MMM-MMM it was fabulous!

DayCare hasn't been so fun - Jason got sick the first day he was there, and after having a runny nose for a week it has now transformed into a full blown ear infection - in BOTH ears! Our poor little boy is having a lot of trouble swallowing and breathing through his nose, which just makes life tough for a kid his age. We've been trying to give him extra love and snuggles to make him feel better.

Jason still cries every day when I leave him at DayCare - I am hoping this will taper off in the next few days, as he starts to realize all the fun things he can do there. Every day they do story time, singing time, rhyme time, and they'll also do other fun activities like finger painting and playing with water and bubbles.

Summer here is Houston is as hot as ever, and we are spending 99% of our time indoors and out of the vicious heat. Can't wait for fall!

Whew, what a month!

Today, Jason is 7 months old! He is such a big boy now - at his 6 month checkup a few weeks ago he measured 27 inches and 19 1/2 pounds. His hair is getting really long, and he now has both bottom teeth sprouting up fast.






We have had a fabulous month since his 6 month birthday!










Jason got to play in his cool new splish splash pool with his buddies Dylan and Sasha -

On Father's Day Jason gave Alberto a cool personalized coffee mug with their photo on it, then we took some photos of our own!

After that, he got to be a model in a fashion show for Sama Baby luxury organic clothes (http://www.samababy.com/)

And finally, we got to spend the 4th of July at Mickey and Donna's house, where we got to swim and see horses! The water was dreamy and warm, having been baking in the sun during our heat wave. Jason loved it!

We are also starting to get summer rains here. I love a good Texas rain shower. I have started to take Jason out onto the porch with me every time it rains so he'll like it too. He reaches his hand out to touch the water falling from above, then peers down below to see it collecting in puddles on the ground.

We took a small video to show you how much he likes it -

Tomorrow we go to New Orleans for a week to see Steph and the family. I will also be attending Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference while there. It's going to be busy!

Happy Six-Month Birthday!

Jason turned 6 months old on June 9th!

He has been a joy and a challenge and a teacher to us! Even though it has only been six short months, I can't even imagine what life was like without him before. He has taught us what it means to be a kid again and has given us the warmth and incredible satisfaction of being our own family.

We are incredibly lucky to have such a happy and good-natured little boy who lights up like a Christmas tree and laughs hysterically while playing with us. He loves to play with colorful objects and anything that lights up or makes noises back at him. He is also learning to be sweet and loving to his softer toys, like his best friend Matteo the Monkey.

His newest thing is to alternate between cooing "oooh-oooh-oooh" nonstop, shrieking in delight at his friends and family and babbling all sorts of sounds. He is definitely making his voice heard!

This week Jason has started to put two similar sounds together (he has said "ga-ga", "goo-goo" and the aforementioned "ooh-ooh-ooh"). This morning, the second he woke up he was already off to the races and happily babbled "ga-ga, ga-ga, ga-ga" for 20 minutes in his crib while he let Mom and Dad take their time waking up.

We can't wait to see what the next six months bring!

Time to find a dentist!

I found a little something extra in Jason's mouth this morning - his first tooth is starting to come in! I was feeding him some mashed banana with my finger when my fingertip scraped up against the little tooth on the bottom of his mouth.

This was a surprise! Jason hasn't really shown many external signs of teething, though he has been a bit more fussy while nursing and when going to sleep. I hope all of his teeth come in as well!

We've had a really busy few weeks with Jason. After first introducing him to solids he rewarded us that night by doing his first roll from tummy to back. Then, the next day he upped the ante by rolling from back to tummy. Then he just showed off by doing it again and again for the next ten minutes. Within a day he'd learned to put the two together and now he is just a roly poly all over the place!

We went to the Aquarium over Memorial Day weekend and despite the crowds Jason did great. He really loved looking at and reaching for the little rays with his Daddy:

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Jason has now tasted Pears, Peaches and Peas. He loves the Pears, absolutely hates the Peaches and tolerates the Peas. That's progress!

First Food experience

We had a great time with Jason this past Sunday May 17, 2009 when we gave him his very first taste of food!

I mixed up some rice cereal for him and the fun commenced at breakfast time. He didn't know what to make of it and.....well, see for yourself!




As the days go on, I am thickening the cereal a little each day. By day 3, Jason was over his inital reticence and now he *loves* it! Wants more of it and actually fusses at me if I don't shovel it into his mouth fast enough! What a big boy!

Some photos of Jason in action

Over the last few months, I've relied on my trusty Blackberry to take spur of the moment photos of Jason when needed. Here are a few from the past few months:

Me 'n' Jason in the hospital - Day one of his life! (Dec 10 2008) Boy was I tired!

January 2009 - Jason all dressed up for his Passport photo! (the actual photo didn't turn out well at all - he kind of looks like a squished up raisin!)


Valentine's Day 2009 - Peace and love, man!

March 2009 - The very first time Jason slept without his swaddle blanket!

March 14, 2009 - Jason's very first time he sucked his thumb

St Patty's Day 2009 - Our Little O'Cutie Pie

March 2009 - Hanging with mom 'n' dad on a lazy Sunday

March 2009 - Jason and his favorite friend, Matteo the Monkey

April 2009 - Jason discovers Dudley!

I'll keep taking candids and posting them periodically so you can see the kid in action!

Four Months Old and pics from our trip to Mazatlan!

**EDITED April 22 to include photos from our trip!**

I can't believe how fast time flies!
In our last post, Jason had just turned 3 months old.
He is now 4 months old and is continuing to develop at an amazing rate!

He had his four month checkup on Tuesday this week, and we learned that he is now 26 inches long (putting him in the 90th percentile for height) and 16 lbs 3 ozs (putting him in the 75th percentile for weight)! Dr. Rossell kept remarking on how handsome he is and what a good natured baby he is turning out to be. He in turned kept charming her with his winning smile and crinkled up nose every time she talked to him. If it weren't for the shots, we would have thoroughly enjoyed the whole visit!

Speaking of shots, he has reacted more negatively to the shots this time around. Our sweet boy had his heart broken when he got those 4 needles in his legs and was difficult to console for several minutes after the vaccinations were administered. Now, two days later, each of his legs have big red welts on them and he favors his left leg very strongly. We've spent the majority of the last two days holding and consoling him. He also does not have an appetite at all - so we are now really out of whack with his eating routine. I just keep feeding him whenever he shows any interest, hoping that we'll get back to normal in the next few days. I know this will pass soon enough, it just makes me sad to see our happy little boy so uncomfortable.

On to other more upbeat news -

We have now taken our first family vacation! Alberto, Jason and I spent 6 days in beautiful Mazatlan last week introducing Jason to all of his Mexican relatives.

It was a whirlwind of activity from start to finish which was only made more intense by the fact that we had gone during Semana Santa. The craziness outside of our hotel for the holiday was almost nonstop from sundown to sunrise every night. Fortunately, we got a room higher up (on the 7th floor) and the a/c unit drowned out most of the chaos happening below.

Jason was wonderful the whole trip.

He handled the plane well, he handled the constant barrage of attention from adoring family members well, he even handled the nonstop on-the-go lifestyle we had! The family was also very helpful in respecting when he needed to be left alone for his naps. But when he was awake he was always basking in the attention of his grandmother, his aunts and uncles, and all of his little cousins.

He also was able to spend a lot of time with his sister, Jenny, and they took to each other very well. Jenny would play with him and tickle him and he would laugh hilariously and caress her face.

My favorite part of the trip was when I took Jason in the swimming pool at the hotel.


This pool was really cool - it was beautiful with its sparkling blue water and waterfall in the center. The steps into the pool were fashioned like rocks you'd use to walk into a stream. The water was crystal clear but cold!




Jason didn't know what to think at first, but clearly ended up enjoying it!

We got to take some video of our time there, as well as photos on our 35mm camera. I now have 4 rolls of film to develop, so once these are ready I will edit this post with photos from the trip!

In the meantime, we are still working on rolling over (he's very very close to rolling over from back to front!), sleeping through the night (average 50% success rate!) and motor skill coordination (he is now grabbing things with his hands and is very good at depth perception).

Jason is now able to track movement with both his eyes and his head and he is really quick to notice what is going on around him. Yesterday, he noticed Dudley for the very first time and even petted his doggie gently. Dudley was, as always, very patient with him.

And our biggest milestone so far this month -
Jason is now sleeping in his crib in his own room! We started this the night after we got back from Mazatlan, and so far we have had very little problem. Jason is a very happy boy and wakes up in a good mood even though he isn't next to us anymore. Such a big boy!

three month milestone!

I am writing this blog entry on my blackberry from under my blanket so that I don't wake Jason up with the light from the device :)
Jason is three months old today! I can't believe this much time has already passed. He has grown so much in so many ways. Not only is he rapidly on his way to weighing 14 pounds, but he is also developing in a variety of ways.
He talks to us with many different sounds now, including a few different coos, a whispered "ya", a lilting "ah-aa-ah", and screeches. He has become very adept at using the different noises to communicate different things to us including frustration, hunger, impatience and delight. And on March 5 we were graced with his very first laugh!
We have begun experimenting with leaving one or both of his arms out of his swaddle blanket while he naps since he is demonstrating increased control over his arms. He is very cute when he does this as he concentrates very hard on keeping both of his arms elevated over his body in what looks like a ready-to-fight pose. He'll stay like that for a very long time, all the while watching me to make sure I notice and give him encouragement.
And today for the first time he was fascinated with his own image in the mirror.
Jason is an incredibly happy baby as long as he gets enough sleep. This isn't always the case as he seems to have decided recently that he doesn't like to go to sleep and fights it at most naptimes.
Our digital camera has decided to break at this most inopportune time, so I am relying on an old 35mm camera for photos. In the meantime Alberto Jason and I took some family photos a couple of weeks ago that turned out lovely. If I can get them scanned into the computer I'll post some for you to see.
I return to work on March 16 (one week from today) and I am of course nervous about that. My mom will be taking care of Jason during the week while I work so I feel pretty good about the situation, its still just difficult to accept that in 6 more days my life won't center around raising such an awesome kid. Fortunately, I am very lucky to have the opportunity to work from home when I am not traveling so that will make it much more bearable.

We have also booked our family trip to mazatlan, where Jason will get to meet all of his Mexican relatives. We will be there the week leading up to Easter, called Semana Santa or Holy Week. I am really looking forward to seeing mazatlan again. We haven't been there since our wedding in 2006!

2009 so far...

So far 2009 has been pretty full. Jason keeps us on our toes pretty regularly, and Alberto is staying busy working side jobs and doing his regular work as well. I am busy with...well just Jason, but that is quite enough! It's been difficult to get things together, but with a little help from Liz and Mom we have finally got our house back in order, our bills paid (including our *mountain* of medical bills) and are looking forward instead of just catching up.

Mom just came and visited for two weeks, and it was a great help to us in every way. She and Jason really bonded, and today when she left Jason cried for almost an hour because he desperately wanted his Nana to hold him and didn't understand why she wasn't here. A little snack finally calmed him down and I managed to get him down for a nice long nap.

While Mom was here we took Jason (when he was 7 weeks) to get his first photo portraits done at JC Penney! Though we couldn't get him to smile on cue, they are still adorable. I learned to fully feed the baby immediately before the photo session, and things go a lot more smoothly! I'll be more prepared next time.

We also got some wonderful photos of Jason at home, and I have posted a few of them here. It's amazing to see how much he has changed - he doesn't look like a newborn at all anymore. In fact, sometimes he doesn't even look like a baby to me, but more like a child!

We have also learned something really important about him - after weeks of congestion and painful cries and restless sleep, a visit to Jason's pediatrician finally revealed the problem - He has GERD, otherwise known as acid reflux. She prescribed .6 mL of Zantac to him three times a day and within a few days there was a very noticeable improvement. Now, for the last four nights he has slept for 6 to 7 hours at a time, and he is much more happy and comfortable while he is awake. Thank goodness for Zantac!

Rub a dub dub in the kitchen sink!

Jason's Super Bowl photo!

Practicing his soap star pose!

Watching the Beisbol Serie de Caribe with Daddy

Jason and his Rainforest buddies

All dressed up and ready to see the other babies at Mommy's Baby Group

Hanging with Mommy

Baby Jason's first Christmas season

We had a whirlwind holiday season, with lots of family in town and everyone eager to spend some time with the newest family member. Steph and Mom did an amazing job helping me and Alberto to get our bearings, and this week was actually the first time that we were on our own since the baby's birth.

Jason did wonderfully all throughout the holiday season, and was quite handsome on Christmas day in his Christmas onesie. It says (in Spanish) "Who needs Santa when I have Grandma". One big milestone we also passed on Christmas Day is that Jason lost his umbilical cord! He has a very cute innie belly button now :)

I have posted some pics below to share a few of the special moments we had:

Our first bath!

A handsome grin from our baby, a few hours before the umbilical cord came off

Sleepytime - I can't resist taking pictures of our sleeping boy!

Jason in his Christmas outfit

Sharing a moment with Daddy

A Christmas Day family picture

Basking in the love of women everywhere!